Convenience Stores

Walmart bottled water convoy heading to Flint
Walmart and three of the nation’s largest bottled water suppliers are coming to the aid of Flint, Michigan, residents who lack access to safe drinking water after the municipal water supply became tainted with lead.

Walmart, Coca-Cola, Nestlé and PepsiCo are sending 176 truckloads of water to Flint – roughly 6.5 million bottles – which is an amount estimated to meet the daily needs of more than 10,000 children for the rest of the year.
Starbucks shuttering ‘tea bar’ format
Starbucks Corp. is still hot for tea, but it’s not feeling too warm and cozy about its Teavana "tea bar" format, which debuted in New York City about two years ago. The concept sought to elevate the tea-drinking experience, much the way Starbucks did for coffee, and featured an array of tea-related beverages and food items in a comfortable environment that encouraged people to linger.

Stew Leonard opens at Airport Plaza on Long Island

Farmingdale, New York -- Kimco Realty Corp. announced that Stew Leonard’s has opened its newest location at Airport Plaza shopping center in Farmingdale, New York. The new 60,000 sq. ft. store will be located across from the existing Stew Leonard’s Wines of Farmingdale store.

The Farmingdale location is home to Stew Leonard’s fifth store and first grocery store location on Long Island.
Six reasons why the RILA board just got stronger

Photo: Marvin Ellison, CEO, J.C. Penney
Popular supermarket is a victim of the blizzard

It looks like Trader Joe’s in Westfield, New Jersey, has taken its final curtain call — at least for a while.

The supermarket, which is located in the upscale town’s thriving downtown area, fell victim to the blizzard that walloped New Jersey on Saturday, as part of the roof collapsed, which caused the exterior walls to buckle into the middle of the building.
Hy-Vee executive honored by GMA

The Grocery Manufacturers Association has recognized the CEO of Hy-Vee Inc. with a collaborative leadership award.

Randy Edeker, chairman, CEO and president of Hy-Vee, Inc. was honored ths month with the GMA 2016 Industry Collaboration Leadership Award. Hy-Vee operates 240 stores throughout eight predominantly Midwestern states.
Grocery group names new board members

Executives from Sprouts and Albertson’s/Safeway are among the newly appointed board members at the Western Association of Food Chains (WAFC).

The Western Association of Food Chains (WAFC) elected four new board members during its annual January meeting in LaQuinta, Calif. The newly elected directors are:
Survey: Retailers upbeat about 2016; investing in tech-driven marketing

Retailers are generally optimistic about 2016, with such factors as low gas pricing and the housing market uptick working in the industry’s favor.

That’s according to a survey of store managers by real estate services firm Levin Management, which has 95 properties in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia and North Carolina. Several industry sources have also expressed a positive outlook, including Kiplinger, which anticipates retail will grow approximately 4% this year, and Trading Economics which expects 3.6% growth.
Publix to open new format on college campus

The Southeast’s leading supermarket operator will give new meaning to its tag line “where shopping is a pleasure” when it opens a new small format on the campus
Dollar General completes leadership transition

After relinquishing the CEO role last year, Dollar General chairman Rick Dreiling will complete a previously announced leadership transition on Jan.
Starbucks Q1 profit tops; on track for 1,800 new stores in 2016

Starbucks Corp. reported first quarter earnings and same-store sales that topped expectations. But the coffee giant gave a soft earnings outlook for its current quarter.

Starbucks reported better-than-expected earnings of $687.6 million for the period ended Dec. 27, 2015, down from $983.1 billion a year earlier. The prior-year period was boosted by a hefty $391 million gain related to a joint venture.

Revenue rose 12% to $5.37 billion. Analysts had forecast $5.39 billion in revenue.
Ahold USA 2015 sales up 1.4%

Ahold USA on Wednesday announced net sales of $26.4 billion for the full year of 2015, an increase of 1.4%.
Ahold USA successfully converted the 25 acquired former A&P stores during the quarter. Identical sales excluding gas were up 1.6%, positively affected by competitor store closures in the New York Metro market. Market share for the fourth quarter and full year increased compared to last year, as the chain added a net 20 stores in 2015 to 788 locations.