Convenience Stores

Big number paid for Houston center
A 65,798-sq.-ft. neighborhood center in the Houston suburb of Greenspoint has been purchased for $15 million, or about $228 per square foot, according to the Chron website. Deal broker CBRE said that’s one of the highest prices paid for retail space in the area on a square-foot basis.
Cashless society not happening anytime soon
The use of cash remains strong among in-store shoppers. That’s according to a new survey by Cardtronics, in which 89% of consumers report using cash in the past six months to pay for merchandise in a physical store. Cash was followed by debit cards, used by 74% of consumers in the last six months, and credit cards, used by 66% of consumers. Eighteen percent of consumers reported using store mobile apps to pay for something in the last six months, and 17% used a mobile wallet.

Sheetz customers can now ‘OrderUp’

Sheetz just added a new item to its assortment — an app-based delivery service. Through a partnership with OrderUp from Groupon, an on-demand restaurant food-delivery service, Sheetz now features a mobile ordering program for food and beverages. The service, which is available in its Morgantown, W.V., and State College, Pennsylvania, locations, allows shoppers to place orders and have them delivered to their doorstep.
Investor doubles money on Illinois center

In 2013, Newport Capital Partners paid just over $31 million for Danada Square East, a 200,000-sq.-ft. center in Wheaton, Illinois, anchored by a Dominick’s supermarket. Yesterday, Newport sold the property for $63 million.
Walgreens, Rite Aid extend date of merger agreement to allow for store divestures

Walgreens, Rite Aid extend date of merger agreement to allow for store divestures Walgreens Boots Alliance and Rite Aid announced that they have mutually agreed to extend the end date of their merger agreement from Oct. 27, 2016 to Jan. 27, 2017. The companies now expect the transaction will close in early calendar 2017.
Albertsons changes the holiday gift card game

Gift cards certainly have not lost their luster among holiday gift givers and recipients — or Albertsons. Well aware that three in four consumers (73%) planned to give at least one gift card last holiday season, according to the Retail Gift Card Association (RGCA) reported, the grocery chain is ready to attract these shoppers again this year. In effort to grab these customers’ wallet share, Albertsons will add the Five Back Visa gift card to its gift card portfolio.
Wakefern invites shoppers to use mobile payments

In line with driving the company’s digital services, Wakefern is turning its attention to mobile payments. Specifically, it will enable customers to use Chase Pay when paying for groceries at its ShopRite and The Fresh Grocer stores. The mobile wallet allows customers to input Chase Visa consumer credit and debit cards into the app, then use the solution to digitally make purchases, and earn rewards. Token technology keeps payments more secures.
New retail powerhouse in the making?

Lidl, the German no-frills grocery chain, is shaping up as a potential retail powerhouse even before it opens its first U.S. store. The company will generate $8.8 billion in sales by 2023, larger than Wegman’s 2016 value of $8.1 billion, according to a just-released forecast by Kantar Retail.
Watch out: Organized retail crime is on the rise — and so are the losses

Organized retail crime does not discriminate. In a unanimous finding, a full 100% of retailers reported that their companies had experienced ORC in the past year, up from 97% in 2015, according to the 12th annual ORC study released by the National Retail Federation. It is the first time in the survey’s history that all responding companies reported being a victim.
Walgreens to ship online orders to stores

Walgreens has joined the ranks of retailers working to get merchandise ordered online into customers’ hands faster. The drugstore chain has launched a ship-to-store program that offers free shipping to a Walgreens or Duane Reade store for orders made on the chain’s website and mobile app. No minimum purchase is required.
What you need to know about restrictive use clauses

For retail tenants and landlords alike, use and exclusive use clauses, which refer to the terms written into a lease that dictates what is and is not permitted by both parties, are a critically important part of the tenant-landlord relationship and lease negotiation process. It is also a potentially contentious subject that will not only affect a retailer’s operational specifics, but can have a profound impact on the bottom line.
Iowa center sells for $3.4 million

Rubinstein Real Estate Company has sold the Blackhawk Village shopping center in Cedar Falls, Iowa, for $3.4 million to a private investor. Mid-America Real Estate brokered the sale. The 65,548-sq.-ft. center includes Chuck E. Cheese’s, Famous Footwear, Key West Fitness, and Dollar Tree. Cedar Falls, a city of about 40,000 people, is the home of the University of Northern Iowa and is situated in Black Hawk County.