Strategy

The Deals stores Dollar Tree acquired nearly a decade ago never turned into a meaningful growth vehicle for the company and soon the banner will disappear.

Dollar Tree said of the 222 Deals stores it operates, 217 will be converted to Dollar Tree stores and five others will become Family Dollar stores. Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar earlier this year giving it a network of nearly 14,000 stores throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Domino’s Pizza is not satisfied with just improving the quality of its pizza.

A few years after a successful marketing campaign where it focused on making a better pizza, Domino’s is now focusing on making a better store network.

 Rite Aid on Tuesday announced that The Rite Aid Foundation is making a $25,000 donation to the Palmetto South Carolina Region chapter of the American Red Cross to help the victims, families and communities affected by last week’s severe flooding. 

McLean, Va. -- Macerich announced that VITA, the new, luxury 30-story residential tower at the mixed-use urban expansion for Tysons Corner in McLean, Virginia, has received the 2015 Award for Excellence from Delta Associates.

Kroger has announced that it had added transgender health benefits to one of the company’s health insurance plans, according to Forbes. "Beginning January 1, 2016, medical procedures including surgery and drug therapy for gender reassignment will be covered up to a $100,000 lifetime maximum for eligible associates and their dependents,” the company wrote on their employee social network. (Forbes)

Curt Garner, who first announced he would leave his current role as CIO of Starbucks Corp. in June, has revealed his next professional stop.

Garner will join Chipotle Mexican Grill as CIO effective Nov. 23, and become the company’s first executive with that title. Chipotle appears to want to duplicate some of the IT-related success Starbucks has had in areas such as store operations and customer experience.

In a relatively short space of time, the retail industry has been turned on its head. Not that long ago, retailers would decide which goods they would stock, how much they would price each item, and which locations would sell which goods. Today, consumers are calling the shots. The smartphone has become like a store in a pocket and consumers use them to quickly find the exact item they want and compare prices to get the best deal. Depending on what is more convenient for them, they can arrange for home delivery or click-and-collect.

HRC Advisory’s annual CEO and CFO survey revealed a major disconnect between capital investments, retail growth and operating strategies.

Chain Store Age spoke with HRC Advisory CEO Antony Karabus about the survey.

What did you find most surprising about the survey results?