Convenience Stores

Target, HomeGoods, and Petco will be opening this month at Closter Plaza, a Whole Foods-anchored center in Closter, New Jersey, undergoing a complete redevelopment.   Owner Edens has stated it is “re-energizing” the 208,337-sq.-ft. center with tenants possessing greater appeal to affluent local residents. The developer reports that the average household income within a five-mile radius of the center is $134,000.  

Grocery-anchored center specialist Phillips Edison has announced the acquisition of two more centers, making it three for the week.   It purchased the 257,979-sq.-ft. Southern Palms in Tempe, Arizona, which is anchored by the fresh format grocer Sprouts and also houses Planet Fitness, Firehouse Subs, Sally Beauty, and West Marine Products.  

Phillips Edison, a major player in grocery-anchored centers, has acquired the Mission Hills Shopping Center in Naples, Florida, according to The Real Deal, a south Florida real estate site.     The 11-year-old, 85,078-sq.-ft. center anchored by Winn-Dixie and Anytime Fitness is 97% leased, according to the seller, The Hampshire Companies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.   More than 3,000 homes are under construction within two miles of the Mission Hills center, according to Hampshire.

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Five grocery tech experts chimed in on the recent report that Amazon is planning a major move into the brick-and-mortar grocery store space, and see the potential for up to 2,000 branded grocery stores over the next 10 years.   

Town Center Plaza, an 82,000-sq.-ft. center in Palm Desert, California, near Joshua Tree National Park, has been acquired by Citivest Commercial Investments for $19.8 million.   Constructed in 1993, the center’s tenants include Trader Joe’s, Michael’s, Fisherman’s Market and Grill, and Tuesday Morning. Colliers International brokered the deal on behalf of the seller, Town Center Plaza LP.  

The nation’s largest online retailer has big plans for brick-and-mortar expansion.  

The chip card (EMV) era has arrived with the promise that data in retail environments will be better protected. Cardholders will have much greater security at the point of sale with their own card data. But, while it will be much more difficult for thieves to steal card data at the point of swipe, the hackers are still hacking and data is still being lost – almost daily.  

Walmart recently announced that it provided pay increases for its managers who are currently making approximately $45,000 per year. By raising their salaries to $48,500 and keeping their duties intact, Walmart will not need to worry about the new federal overtime rules that go into effect on Dec. 1. As we all know, Walmart sets the pace for change (e.g., selling unboxed deodorant and antiperspirant, selling groceries and general merchandise in the same store, etc.) but will retailers follow suit here by simply increasing wages? Likely not.