Awards

The retail industry is not lacking for new concepts — new players are constantly entering the market, both online and offline. But breaking through and establishing a record of success is another matter entirely. In this special section, Chain Store Age presents the winners of its first-ever Breakout Retailer Awards, brands that have crossed the “newbie” line and are on track for growth in the coming years.

The National Grocers Association held its annual meeting recently in Las Vegas and Candice Lastimado of Seattle-based Metropolitan Markets came away the big winner.

New York -- Halstead Property announced the promotion of Richard J. Grossman to president. In his new role, Grossman will work closely with Halstead CEO Diane M. Ramirez and will also continue to oversee the Village and SoHo offices together with Sara Rotter, executive director of sales for Downtown.

Both Wegmans and Publix were named to Fortune's 2016 top-100 list of "Best Companies to Work For," and both grocers - the only retail pharmacy operators on the list - have placed in the top 100 for the past 19 consecutive years.

Both Wegmans and Publix are two of 12 companies that have earned spots on Fortune's "Best Companies" list every year since the list began.

For the 19th consecutive year, Publix has been honored as one of Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For.” The magazine sent a journalist to work at a Publix grocery store for several days, and he discovered what makes Publix so successful.

Read more by clicking here.

Rite Aid on Monday selected the Tri-Tip Walking Cane, an ergonomic walking cane, as the winner of the first-ever Innovation Challenge and will develope and sell the Tri-Tip Walking Cane in Rite Aid stores and online.

Chain Store Age will honor the winners of its first-ever Breakout Retailer Awards, which honors emerging retail/restaurant concepts that are innovative in their segment and poised for growth, at its annual SPECS Conference, March 13-15, 2016, at the Hilton Anatole, Dallas. This year’s awards are sponsored by The Paint Folks.

An award-winning comic book store will open in a new ground-up retail development in Detroit.

Vault of Midnight will occupy one the remaining retail spaces in The Z, which now includes several restaurants, art spaces, a sneaker shop and yoga studio.

The 2,000-sq.-ft. shop, expected to open this spring, will offer a broad selection of comic books and graphic novels as well as toys, games, action figures and branded merchandise.