Convenience Stores

Persistence has paid off at Ingles Market for Jim Lanning who was elevated to the role of CEO after joining the $3.8 billion supermarket chain 41 years earlier.

Asheville, NC.-based Ingles Markets named Lanning, 56, to the role of CEO, filling a position previously held by company Chairman Robert P. Ingle, II. Lanning will retain his position as president while Ingle, 47, will continue to serve as chairman and continue his day-to-day active operational role in the executive leadership of the company, according to a statement.

Publix has hired a broker and is actively looking for sites in the Washington, D.C., area, according to a new report. 

The Washington Business Journal reported that the Florida-based grocery chain had a booth at the International Council of Shopping Centers’ Mid-Atlantic Dealmaking and Conference last week in Southern Maryland.  Publix spokeswoman Kim Reynolds told the publication that indeed, the chain is looking to open stores throughout Virginia, including in Northern Virginia. 

An underground shopping arcade with cool stores and hip eateries is coming to one of the busiest subway stations in New York City.

TurnStyle is set to open in mid-April, on the subway concourse at the 59th Street Columbus Circle subway station in Manhattan. The 30,000-sq.-ft. center, the first major privatization of a New York subway station, is located along both sides of the 325-ft. long passageway from Eighth Avenue and 57th Street to the subway platforms at 59th Street-Columbus Circle. (The passageway is free to pedestrians since it is not in the fare zone.)

Publix has hired a broker and is actively looking for sites in the Washington, D.C., area, according to a new report. The Washington Business Journal reported that the Florida-based grocery chainhad a booth at the International Council of Shopping Centers’ Mid-Atlantic Dealmaking and Conference last week in Southern Maryland. Publix spokeswoman Kim Reynolds told the publication that indeed, the chain is looking to open stores throughout Virginia, including in Northern Virginia.

Houston -- Thor Equities announced Lowe’s Companies will build a 100,000-sq.-ft. home improvement store at The Shoppes at Cinco Ranch located in Katy, Texas. The company is in the process of developing the 35-acre property, which will include retail stores and restaurant spaces. The property is anchored by Walgreens, with Kroger and Academy Sports + Outdoors located across the street.

Cincinnati -- Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT II and TPG Real Estate announced the formation of a partnership to acquire high-quality, value-added grocery-anchored shopping centers throughout the United States. The Partnership will invest up to $250 million of equity and plans to leverage this capital to achieve a $750 million acquisition target.

Dollar General will break its own record for store expansion in 2017. And that’s saying a lot.

The discounter is already in high gear, with plans to open a record 900 stores and remodel or relocate about 875 existing locations in 2016. But it’s upping the total for 2017, forecasting some 1,000 new stores and 900 remodels or relocations, which is in line with its model of 6% to 8% square footage growth.

Democracy Works, a non-partisan, non-profit organization, said on Wednesday it is teaming up with an array of companies, including Starbucks, Target and Westfield Corp., in an effort to boost U.S. voter turnout to 80% by 2020.

The project, called the TurboVote Challenge, is ambitious. The last time the U.S. achieved a voter turnout rate over 80% was in 1888. An estimated 57.5% of eligible citizens voted in the 2012 presidential election.

Fred’s on Wednesday reported its Q4 and FY2015 earnings, as well as the news that board chairman Michael Hayes would be stepping down, to be replaced with longtime director Thomas Tashjian.

Market expansion into the Minneapolis market may be the next step for Meijer, The Grand Rapids Press reported last week, confirming that the grocer acquired 30 acres of land in a Twin City suburb. "I can confirm Meijer has purchased property in Brooklyn Park, Minn.," Frank Guglielmi, Meijer senior director communications, told The Grand Rapids Press.