Retail

Groupon has unveiled a free app that pays people cash for buying featured grocery and consumer-packaged goods items each week at any supermarket or retailer in the United States and Canada called Snap.

Android and iPhone users can now earn money when they buy an item listed in the app and take a picture of their receipt. To mark Snap’s debut, people who download the app and use it to submit any grocery receipt through Nov. 11 can enter a sweepstakes to win a year of free groceries for an entire family, a value of $13,000.

Milford, Conn. -- Subway announced the nationwide availability of contactless/NFC-based mobile payments in partnership with Softcard, completing a rollout that was announced earlier this month.   

In the future, Subway will integrate its card rewards program into the Softcard app in participating markets, providing a simpler way to earn reward points.

Greensboro, N.C. - Convenience store operator Mapco recently partnered with Gilbarco Veeder-Root to install the Impulse upselling platform across 220 sites by the end of 2014. Mapco, which operates 375 stores in the Southeast, is using the Impulse platform to drive dynamic digital content at both the point-of-sale and through their mobile application.

Seattle - Starbucks Corp. opens its first community store in Korea, located in the Daehakro neighborhood of Seoul, on Oct. 1. Thirty cents from every purchase at this store will go to Green Umbrella ChildFund Korea (GUCFK) to directly support lifelong skills development for youth through the Starbucks Comprehensive Youth Leadership Program.

Lumber Liquidators has promoted Ray Cotton to SVP, chief compliance and sustainability officer. Cotton will continue to report directly to president and CEO Robert Lynch.  

Austin, Texas - Based on previous savings experienced during the holiday season in 2013 and projected industry growth in 2014, U.S. shoppers have the opportunity to save more than $5 billion dollars by using deal and offer websites during the upcoming holiday season. According to a new study from RetailMeNot and Dr. Jason Abrevaya, Ph.D., economics department chair at the University of Texas at Austin, consumers have the potential to save more than $200 an hour while using RetailMeNot.com, or $34 in 10 minutes.

Coventry, England -- Cummins Allison, a leading provider of coin and currency handling solutions, announced that its customer, British grocery giant Tesco, has deployed self-service coin machines, enhancing customer service and solving a key space problem across multiple store locations in the U.K.

Fort Worth, Texas -- Trademark Property Co., a retail and mixed-use investor, developer and operator, has welcomed three national big box stores to Alliance Town Center. DSW (Designer Shoe Warehouse), Men’s Wearhouse and Sleep Experts have all opened at the 1 million-sq.-ft. outdoor shopping center in Fort Worth, Texas.

DSW is leasing 15,000-sq.-ft. at the shopping center. The new Men’s Wearhouse location totals 5,500-sq.-ft. and the new Sleep Experts store measures 4,500-sq.-ft.