Strategy

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer is opening two 190,000-sq.-ft. supercenters in Portage and Warsaw, in northern Indiana, creating more than 500 new jobs.

The family-owned retailer, which already has 32 stores throughout Indiana, built the new locations to LEED standards. The two supercenters are the latest in a $200 million investment this year that includes the construction of six new Meijer supercenters, extensive remodel projects for five additional stores in Michigan and Illinois and major upgrades to two distribution complexes.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens will pay $80 million as part of a settlement with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) over a failure to report unusually large shipments of prescription painkillers from a distribution center in Jupiter, Fla. Six Walgreens pharmacies in Florida received tens of thousands of orders for regulated painkillers that were up three times the normal size, but the distribution center did not report them to the DEA as they were required to by law.

Montreal -- Canadian jewelery retailer Birks will introduce a new retail concept in the summer of 2013, with new stores opening in DIX30 Complex, Brossard, Quebec, and in the new Mapleview Mall in Burlington, Ontario.

The new format, developed in collaboration with Sid Lee Architecture, will feature round 1,500 sq. ft. of retail space and be dedicated to jewelry from the Birks Collection.

The Canadian retail landscape shifted again late Wednesday when Safeway announced the sale of its operations there to Sobeys Inc. for $5.8 billion.

The all cash deal will result in net proceeds to Safeway of about $2 billion which will be used to pay down debt. Sobey’s is a Canadian food retailer and a wholly owned subsidiary of Empire Company Limited. It is acquiring Safeway’s 223 store operation and 12 manufacturing facilities that last year generated sales of $6.7 billion in Canadian dollars and a $428 million operating profit.

Royal Ahold CEO Dick Boer and Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke are the new co-chairs of global packaged goods organization the Consumer Goods Forum.
 
The selection of Boer and Bulcke was announced in conjunction with the CGF’s Global Summit in Tokyo. The pair replace outgoing co-chairs Muhtar Kent of the Coca-Cola Company and Gareth Ackerman of Pick n Pay. Ackerman and Denise Morrison, CEO of Campbell Soup Company, were appointed vice co-chairs of the forum.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- Target announced that its first 24 store locations in Ontario (Canada) have been awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification. As previously announced, the discounter is seeking LEED certification for all 124 stores scheduled to open in Canada this year.

MIAMI — PureFormulas, a growing e-retailer that offers natural health supplements, has appointed William Perez as its CIO. Perez is a 17-year veteran in the technology world with 13 years of experience in the Internet operation space.

“We’re excited to welcome Willy to the team,” said CEO José Prendes. “He will be instrumental in our continued growth strategy and will help take our entire interactive operation and customer experience to the next level.”

Aston, Pa. – National lighting, sign and electrical maintenance and service company Action Services Group has named Joe Fairley as VP of account solutions. Fairley will be responsible for Action Services Group’s national sales development and sales management of the account solutions team. He has more than 20 years of experience in facility services.