Changes to Amazon shipping, beer's popularity and the best grocery stores in America

Hard work and Genesee beer leads to distributor Durdach Brothers success

The Durdach Brothers beer distribution business in Paxinos, Penn., turned 80 last year and employs 80 full-time employees, from warehouse workers and delivery drivers to retail and office staff and salespeople. Rick Durdach attributes much of the company’s success to hard work and Rochester, N.Y.-based Genesee beer, which they have distributed for 60 years. “He literally took the Genesee name and made it into a $1 million brand,” said Mary Beth Popp, vice president, corporate relations for FIFCO USA, of Rochester.

NBWA's chief economist: Beer's popularity endures

Despite reports suggesting otherwise, Americans still like beer. They still like it a lot, said Lester Jones, chief economist of the National Beer Wholesalers Association. "For the most part, we're very predictable and consistent consumers of alcohol," he said at the annual Prairie Grains Conference in Grand Forks, N.D. Americans' continued interest in beer — and the growing list of places it's consumed — makes Jones very bullish. "I think there will be a ton of opportunities" for the beer industry in the future," he added.

Kroger, Publix and Hy-Vee produce on list of best grocery store chains in every state

There are almost 40,000 grocery stores in the U.S., and 24/7 Tempo set out to find out which stores consumers prefer. To determine the best supermarket in every state, 24/7 Tempo ranked grocery stores using a combination of data from Yelp and Google Trends. Check out which stores are favorites in your state.

Amazon sellers can't use FedEx Ground for Prime shipments

Amazon will no longer allow its third-party sellers to use FedEx's ground delivery to ship Prime packages, marking a change that could affect small businesses and pricing for consumers. The email obtained by the Wall Street Journal noted performance declines as the reason for the decision to block FedEx Ground, according to the news outlet. The ban will reportedly take effect this week and last "until the delivery performance of these ship methods improves."

TODAY'S NEWS

Hard work and Genesee beer leads to distributor Durdach Brothers success

NBWA's chief economist: Beer's popularity endures

Kroger, Publix and Hy-Vee produce on list of best grocery store chains in every state

Amazon sellers can't use FedEx Ground for Prime shipments