RETAIL

Marketing Program: On a more down-to-earth note, Catalina Marketing Group in Anaheim has announced Tuesday that it has signed the nation’s fifth-largest supermarket chain to participate in the company’s unique direct-marketing program. Winn-Dixie, which has 1,223 stores, is a pretty big deal in the South, even if few people know of it around here. It joins other major chains, including Ralphs and Lucky supermarkets, in participating in the program.

Catalina’s “Checkout Coupon” system uses information about consumer purchases gleaned from computerized scanners at checkout counters to provide customers with coupons that they will probably want or use. Catalina will keep track of the purchases of 30 million households.