Convenience Stores

When JLL took over retail leasing for 1407 Broadway, just south of Times Square in New York, it decided to break up the four existing retail pads on the ground floor into eight and emphasize food. That plan is now coming into fruition with the signing of Gregory’s Coffee, Juice Generation, Luke’s Lobster, and ‘Witchcraft as the first four tenants.  

Regency Centers has demolished most of its Aventura Shopping Center in the South Florida town of the same name, and is underway with a near-total redevelopment.   The Publix grocery anchor at the center south of Hollywood is the only structure that remains, though the 35,500-sq.-ft. space will be expanded to 49,000 sq. ft. with parking below the store.   

Meijer is kicking off the fall campaign of its signature hunger relief program, Simply Give, across its six-state footprint in an effort to help local food pantry partners restock their shelves.

In 2013, when Plainsboro (New Jersey) Plaza lost its grocery anchor, prospects appeared bleak for the once-thriving center. A new town center concept erected across the street in this affluent locale bordering Princeton had siphoned off shoppers in a big way. According to a report in the Trenton Times, two-thirds of the Plaza emptied while Plainsboro Village Center was 96% leased.  

Walmart is testing a new scheduling system designed to improve peak-hour scheduling and gives its employees more certainty about their job schedules, the Associated Press reported.   The system was rolled out to the chain’s 650 Neighborhood Market stores in July, and could eventually be deployed across Walmart’s entire U.S. store network, according to the report.  

RediClinic convenient care clinics has named a seasoned healthcare executive as its new CFO.   Jeff Fields is joining Health Dialog, provider of population health management services, and RediClinic as CFO. He will be responsible for the fiscal management of both RediClinic and Health Dialog as they continue to grow in the total population management services and retail health care markets.   

Fred's Inc. saw July sales drop 7% to $154 million, compared to $165.6 million in the same period last year.    Comparable store sales for the month declined 4.6%, compared with an increase of 0.7% in the year-earlier period.   Fred's total sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2016 decreased 3.4% to $527.7 million, from $546.1 million for the same period last year. On a comparable store basis, second quarter sales decreased 2% versus an increase of 0.9% for the year-earlier period.

Publix’s sales for second quarter 2016 were $8.1 billion, a 2.1% increase from last year’s $8 billion. Comparable-store sales for second quarter 2016 increased 1.1%.    The company says sales were negatively impacted by 1.2% due to the effect of the Easter holiday being in the first quarter in 2016. In 2015, the effect of the Easter holiday was in the second quarter.