Costco Wholesale Corp.

Washington, D.C. - The Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS), a division of the National Retail Federation (NRF), has announced two major additions to the ARTS Standard Request for Proposals (RFP) library on selecting payments solutions and video analytics solutions. These standardized RFPs will help retail companies research software applications ahead of time.

The Next Big Thing in e-commerce is set to launch in late May according to Marc Lore, CEO of a new online Marketplace called Jet that blends aspects of the traditional warehouse club model with a new approach to dynamic pricing and fulfillment.

Lore said the Jet board of directors is scheduled to meet on May 7. At that time he expects the platform will be ready for launch and the board will pick a specific launch date within the following two week window.

Wasn’t Best Buy supposed to be out of business by now? Instead, the company has shown itself to be one of the retail industry’s most resilient operators, achieving growth in the face of intense competition and deteriorating demand for once hot product categories like tablets.

Not that long ago Best Buy was at risk of becoming irrelevant, a victim of showrooming and competitive forces, headed for a fate similar to RadioShack. Instead, as evidenced by its fourth quarter results, Best Buy is practically thriving against some still challenging circumstances.

CST Brands is celebrating the grand opening of a new distribution center that aims to fuel its ambitious expansion plan in Texas.

The new 365,000-square-foot warehouse will serve as the main distribution hub for food and merchandise for about 600 Corner Store locations across Texas.

Toronto - Costco Canada has reportedly had its license to import fish into Canada suspended. According to Reuters, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency suspended Costco’s license to import fish on Feb. 26, but is only making it public now.

Columbus, Ohio - Easton Town Center, a 1.7 million-sq.-ft. “New Urban” shopping center, has announced that 13 new tenants have signed lease agreements to be included in the shopping center’s new 500,000-sq.-ft. north district, Easton Gateway. The announcement was made by Easton Town Center co-developers Steiner + Associates and The Georgetown Company.

Waban, Mass. - PetSmart and Amazon.com deliver the best customer experience in the retail industry. According to the 2015 Temkin Experience Ratings, an annual ranking of companies based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers, PetSmart and Amazon.com tied for the top spot, each scoring 82%, which put them both in fourth place overall out of 293 companies across 20 industries.

Walgreens came in a close third with a rating of 81% and a ranking of eighth, while Bed Bath & Beyond, Lowe's, and Costco all earned 79% and tied for 19th place overall.

There has been a lot of discussion in the last several years about the strength of the grocery sector. I think it’s clear that a big reason behind that success has been the evolution of different formats and the explosive growth of a new generation of grocery concepts that represent a significant departure from the traditional grocery model.