Events

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- Dollar General Corp. is not sitting back while rivals Family Dollar and Dollar Tree prepare to merge. Following its failed bid to acquire Family Dollar, Dollar General has accelerated its expansion plans for 2015. The discounter, which already has the retail industry’s most aggressive new store strategy said it will open 730 new stores and remodel 875 existing locations in 2015, translating into a 6% increase in total square footage. And looking ahead, Dollar General plans to grow its square footage by 7% in 2016.

New York – Retail real estate firm Simon, in partnership with fashion and retail event company Decoded Fashion, has announced the 10 finalists in its "Future of Retail: Meet the Disruptors" competition. The competition's mission is to discover startups in retail or retail-related technologies whose innovations will enhance the shopping experience for future generations.

The finalists, all innovative startups in retail or retail-related technologies, are:

New York - Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is opening its first Martha Stewart Cafe, in the Starrett-Lehigh building, home to Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's corporate headquarters. The cafe will offer handcrafted espresso beverages and teas.

The menu, personally curated by Martha Stewart, will serve hot beverages, cold-brew iced coffee, artisanal loose-leaf teas, and pastries. The cafe is partnering with Kobrick Coffee, a New York City-based and family-owned roaster, and Wei Bertram of Connecticut-based Arogya Tea,

Walmart Executive Vice President of Global Customer Insights and Analytics Cindy Davis has been confirmed as a featured speaker for IRI’s upcoming Summit.

Sprouts Farmers Market is hoping Nascar fans will be racing to its stores after the Phoenix-based retailer signed on for a major sponsorship.

The 200-unit retailer of fresh, natural and organic foods will be the primary sponsor of Cole Whitt’s number 35 Ford Fusion when the green flag drops at this weekend’s CampingWorld.com 500 at the Phoenix International Raceway. According to Sprouts, the 23-year-old Whitt is an Arizona native committed to living a healthy lifestyle. Sprouts also operates more than 20 stores in and around Phoenix.

Houston – Salata, a custom salad and salad wrap restaurant eatery, will open a 26,000-sq.-ft corporate complex in West Houston. Construction on the facility began in January and completion is estimated for summer 2015.

The headquarters will house offices for the chain's corporate employees, a training restaurant for franchisees and managers and a production facility. It will also feature a 2,500-sq.-ft. restaurant open to the public during regular lunch hours, which will also serve as a test kitchen and training restaurant.

Saks and nine top fashion footwear designers offered their stunning interpretations of Cinderella’s slipper to generate in-store excitement at Saks’ flagship store.

Washington, D.C. -- Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to rise an unusually high 16.9% this month over the same time last year as West Coast ports begin to dig out from a backlog of cargo that built up during just-concluded contract negotiations with dockworkers, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.



New York -- From parking lots to refrigerated cases, Walmart has helped pioneer the use of LED lighting. And the discounter shows no signs of stopping, having recently made headlines with its use of solid-state ceiling lighting. Walmart will share insights and learnings gained from its LED lighting deployments at Chain Store Age’s 51st annual SPECS Conference, March 15 – 17, Sands Expo at the Venetian/Palazzo Hotel, Las Vegas.