Marketing

Boulder, Col. -- Sunflowers Farmer Market plans to open its first location in California on May 11, in Roseville, which is in the northern half of the state.

Sunflower operates 33 stores in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Texas.
 

With 329 stores in China producing $7.5 billion in sales annually, Walmart has experienced dramatic growth since it entered the market in 1996 with two stores. Last year, the company pursued its most aggressive expansion to date with the opening of 49 stores, and at a meeting for financial analysts earlier this week in Shenzhen, China, senior executives detailed plans to get a lot bigger.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- SRS Real Estate Partners announced that Greg Roth has returned to the company, serving as senior VP and market leader in South Florida.

A veteran of Staubach Retail Services (now SRS), Roth also served as director of retail investments for Archon Group and, most recently, was managing principal of LDR Realty Partners.

MONTVALE, N.J. — Grocer A&P is launching a discount program that offers seniors savings on groceries purchased at A&P, Pathmark, Waldbaum's, Food Emporium and Superfresh banner stores.

On April 4, the company is launching its "Senior Appreciation Days" program, starting with "Senior Appreciation Mondays," a new special discount program for seniors in all Pathmark banner stores.

Beaumont, Texas -- Conn's said Thursday that it lost $3.4 million in its fiscal fourth quarter, reflecting charges tied to planned store closings and other items.

Conn's, which sells consumer electronics, home appliances, furniture, mattresses and lawn and garden products, operates 76 stores in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. It plans to close five underperforming stores and let the leases expire for two additional locations.

Walmart this week filed its annual report on form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and in keeping with good disclosure practices around risk factors the company offered an update on the sex discrimination case that has been all over the news.

Washington, D.C. -- Combined Properties announced that Jessica Berets has joined the company as Assistant General Counsel. 

Berets will be responsible for drafting, negotiating and consummating a variety of legal documents, including lease agreements with tenants in the commercial retail real estate portfolio managed by Combined Properties, and providing advice and counsel to the company's leasing, construction and property management departments.
 

No one disputes the philosophy that every day low prices enabled Walmart to achieve dramatic growth, but pricing studies continue to reveal a marketplace where price separation relative to competitors has become difficult to achieve.