Strategy

San Diego – On Jan. 30, 2014, PriceSmart, Inc. acquired approximately 147,000 usable sq. ft. of land in the city of Medellin, Colombia, and leased approximately 126,000 usable sq. ft. of land in the city of Bogota, Colombia, upon which the company plans to construct two new warehouse club stores. These two warehouse clubs are currently planned to open before the end of calendar year 2014.

WinCo Foods plans to open its first discount supermarkets in Texas at 8 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 6. The 95,000-sq.-ft. stores will feature the company’s newest décor which highlights its project offering.

The Ft. Worth store, located at 8000 Crowley Lane, will initially employ approximately 180 individuals, 170 of whom are local hires, and the McKinney store, located at 1800 N. Graves St., will open with approximately 170 employees, 160 of whom are local hires.

Seattle - Nordstrom, Inc. plans to relocate its full-line store to a new space within Ala Moana Center, Honolulu, Hawaii. The new three-level, approximately 186,000-sq.-ft. store is expected to open spring 2016.

Sports Authority has named Jeremy J. Aguilar as CFO. Aguilar was most recently at Hhgregg, where he has been CFO since 2009.

“Jeremy’s expertise in finance and accounting will play a critical role in further strengthening Sports Authority,” said CEO Michael E. Foss. “He will be a valuable asset to the team; we are thrilled to have him on board.”

Tampa, Fla. -- Retail architecture and design firm api(+) announced the appointment of John Ziebarth as studio director for its food service group. He was most recently brand design manager for the specialty restaurant group at Darden Restaurants, Orlando, Fla.
 

Washington, D.C. - As a result of softer same-store sales and customer traffic levels, the National Restaurant Association's Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) registered a moderate decline in December 2013. The RPI, a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry, stood at 100.5 in December, down 0.6% from November and the first decline in three months.  

Kenco, a leading provider of integrated logistics solutions, real estate services, and material handling equipment, has named Frazer Middleton as chief information officer.
 
In this newly created role, Middleton will direct the technology strategy of the company and lead the IT team to enhance performance and functionality. Middleton will also focus on opportunities to expand Kenco’s technological capabilities.
 

Seattle – The price of subscribing the Amazon Prime preferred shipping program will reportedly increase. According to the Huffington Post, Tom Szkutak, CFO of Amazon, said on a Jan. 30 investors call that the company is considering raising the current $79 yearly fee for Amazon Prime, which includes free two-day shipping, by $20 to $40 in the U.S.