Convenience Stores

New York -- Brixmor Property Group announced commercial real estate professional Mark Salma has joined the company as VP of redevelopment. In his role, Salma will focus on Brixmor’s anchor space repositioning projects in the North region with the goal of driving higher sales, traffic and small shop leasing at the property level.

Every year, it seems, summer and the “back to school” shopping season go by in a flash. Suddenly, as the leaves change color, retailers find themselves looking ahead to what they hope will be a successful holiday shopping season.

“There are two kinds of big companies in the United States. There are those who’ve been hacked…and those who don’t know they’ve been hacked.”

Several years before FBI Director James Comey made that bold, now infamous proclamation on CBS’s 60 Minutes, the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) partnered with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to initiate a federal strategic plan for cybersecurity research and development.

The bankrupt Haggen supermarket chain is following through on its promise to unload some of its California locations as the company looks to refocus its operations on 37 stores in the Pacific Northwest.

Haggen announced Monday that it has entered into an agreement with Smart & Final Stores Inc. for it to acquire 28 store leases and related assets from affiliates of Haggen Holdings for $56 million.

October is National Pizza Month, and two pizza chains are using mobile and social technology to heat up their loyalty programs as the weather cools.

The Los Angeles-based, 200-plus-unit California Pizza Kitchen will leverage a Paytronix-powered mobile rewards program.

Leveraging geofencing to identify members of its Pizza Dough loyalty program when they are near stores, California Pizza Kitchen will send push/pull mobile messages with a special October promotion offering 25% savings.

The bankrupt Haggen supermarket chain is following through on its promise to unload some of its California locations as the company looks to refocus its operations on 37 stores in the Pacific Northwest.

Kroger is in the process of installing "smart shelf technology" at one of its stores in Ohio, according to Cincinnati.com.

The grocery chain is completing the installation of 2,200 Edge shelves throughout the center of the supermarket, including most aisles with dry goods. Today the tech features price tagging beneath the respective items, but future applications could include providing on-demand nutritional info, Cincinnati.com reports.

Rincon, Ga. -- Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. announced the acquisition of Fort Howard Square in Rincon, Georgia, for a purchase price of approximately $11.5 million, using a combination of cash and debt to pay for the property.

The center is 95% leased and anchored by Lowe’s and Walmart Supercenter.

St. Petersburg, Fla. -- The Sembler Company and Forge Capital Partners announced the purchase of Disston Plaza in St. Petersburg, Florida, which will be added to Forge Real Estate Partners III investment fund. The 123,000 sq. ft. shopping center is currently 98% occupied and is anchored by Publix and also includes Bealls Outlet and Dollar Tree.

Gasoline/convenience retailer Thorntons Inc. maximizes its customer “convenience” with 24-hour service at many locations. This requires the Louisville, Kentucky-based, 175-store chain to operate robust network security that can handle heavy transaction volume at all times.

“We needed a simple and effective whitelisting (file and application approval) product to prevent outbound Internet access except to desired places,” said David Caudill, VP of IT for Thorntons.