Retail

Dodgeville, Wis. -- Lands’ End has brought on San Francisco-based Secret Sauce Partners to help improve the retailer’s online shopping experience.

Lands’ End has deployed Secret Sauce’s Fit Predictor service, which proactively finds a customer's best fit in seconds using existing data, without the need for physical measurements.  

Barnegat, N.J. — Two long-term lease agreements totaling 6,600 sq. ft. bring retail occupancy to 100% at Bayshore Plaza in Barnegat, New Jersey, according to the 59,000-sq.-ft. property’s leasing and managing firm Levin Management. 

The new tenants include casual Italian restaurant Luigi’s Ristorante and Brick Oven Pizza (2,400 sq. ft.) and non-profit green initiative Greensleeves Boutique (4,200 sq. ft.).

Pleasanton, Calif. - Safeway has released its sixth annual sustainability report, informed by the Global Reporting Initiative G3 Guidelines. The online report, titled "Heart of Safeway," includes 2013 performance highlights such as hiring 1,833 military veterans and scoring 100% in the Human Rights Campaign Buyer's Guide and Corporate Equality Index

Other highlights include:

Minneapolis — The Opus Group announced plans to build three 52,000-sq.-ft. retail buildings for St. Paul, Minnesota-based Gander Mountain. The new retail stores will be located in Augusta, Georgia; Newnan, Georgia and Algonquin, Illinois.

Dallas - 7-Eleven is celebrating its 87th birthday with eight days of free offers, beginning July 11. To receive each day's free offer, a customer must first download and register on the 7-Eleven app.

A customer opens the 7-Eleven app at the store and shows the member barcode to the sales associate at checkout. The barcode appears below the coupons. Once the associate scans the barcode at the register, the customer will receive the item as they check out.

Augusta, Georgia — Ben Carter Enterprises will break ground in December on the Outlet Mall of Georgia at Augusta, an 800,000-sq.-ft. fashion outlet mall slated to open in spring 2016.

Ben Carter’s announcement comes on the heels of a key land agreement reached with the owners of the Georgia Theatre Co., who agreed to reposition their theatre to accommodate the mall.

Cincinnati - The Kroger Co. has published its eighth annual sustainability report, setting its first-ever water conservation goal and providing a progress update on moving retail locations toward "zero waste" and sourcing 100% certified sustainable palm oil. Since 2000, Kroger has reduced energy consumption by nearly 35%. It has 557 Energy Star certified store locations and another 517 that are eligible.

Highlights of the report include:

New York -- Uncertainty at the West Coast ports has caused a rush of activity, according to a monthly tracking service.

Import volume at major U.S. container ports is expected to total 1.5 million containers this month, says the Global Port Tracker from the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. That’s the highest monthly volume in at least five years and follows a trend of unusually high import levels that began this spring as labor strife pushed retailers to import merchandise ahead of any potential problems.