Convenience Stores

Sand Lake Corners North, a 151,487-sq.-ft. community center in Orlando, Florida, has been put up for sale. Transwestern is serving as broker for the property at 8115 – 8379 S. John Young Parkway.   According to Transwestern, tenants with long-term leases fill more than 90% of the center, which is located in Orlando’s tourist corridor and is surrounded by corporate campuses, including the SouthPark Center that comprises 2.9 million sq. ft. of office space.  

CVS Pharmacy continues to make a concerted effort to transform its stores, with the goal of fostering a better customer experience.   The retailer on Wednesday officially unveiled a new store design to enhance the retail customer experience with a new assortment of healthier food, health-focused products and expanded beauty selections, paired with informational signage throughout the store to help customers discover new offerings. The retailer hosted an event at The Garage in New York City on Wednesday to showcase the enhancements firsthand.

Albertsons Companies has appointed Wayne Denningham, currently executive VP and COO, to the new role of president and COO for Albertsons Companies. Denningham will continue to lead store operations with added oversight of marketing & merchandising, supply chain, manufacturing, and integration, all of which will continue under their current leadership.  

Native advertising is significantly spurring in-store traffic — at a more cost-efficient rate — compared to traditional display advertising.  

GNC Holdings’ income and revenue declined in the first quarter, but the company said it is encouraged by the results of its marketing and pricing revamp.    Net income totaled $23.9 million, or 35 cents per share during the quarter, compared with $50.8 million, or 69 cents per share, in the year-ago period year. Adjusted earnings were 37 cents per share, which was above estimates.   Revenue totaled $644.8 million during the quarter from $668.9 million last year, but still above estimates. 

FreshDirect, Subway and The Cheesecake Factory have added a new item to their menus — conversational commerce.   Through a partnership with MasterCard, the three brands are now using artificial intelligence (AI)-based bots to enable consumers to browse menus, build orders and securely checkout via Masterpass — all without leaving the Messenger chat-based platform.   

Nearly 50 years after it opened its first location, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store has landed on the West Coast.    The chain, which combines a family-friendly restaurant with an old-fashioned country store, has opened Tualatin, Oregon. The location marks a key expansion of the company’s footprint.  

7-Eleven is putting all of its policy data in one place — a move that will enable it to better mitigate risks connected to insurance and claims.   The convenience store chain added the Risk Management Information System (RMIS) from Riskonnect, to power its claims management, policy management and property data collection processes in the U.S. and Canada. The cloud-based system breaks down silos to provide a holistic view of risk management.