Convenience Stores

Target CEO talks CVS partnership
Target chairman and CEO Brian Cornell commented on the chain’s new partnership with CVS Health in a Q&A on Target’s blog, A Bullseye View. Here are some excerpts:
Walmart combines physical and digital in new Neighborhood Market store
New York — Walmart continues its building boom in Northwest Arkansas, opening a Neighborhood Market store just a few miles from the chain’s headquarters in Bentonville. During the past few years, company has added new Sam’s Clubs, Supercenters, a Walmart To Go convenience store, a grocery pick up facility and nearly 10 new Neighborhood Markets to the area. While adding another new Neighborhood Market isn’t a huge deal, but the store’s location, its layout and some of the signing elements are noteworthy.

Report: Publix may be eyeing smaller-store format

LAKELAND, Fla. — Publix Super Markets may be considering opening a smaller-store format, according to a report in The Gainesville Sun.
Physical and digital meet in Bentonville

Walmart’s saturation of Northwest Arkansas with its Neighborhood Market format continued this week with the opening of a new location on north Walton Boulevard just a few miles from the retailer’s headquarters.
Report: Publix to open smaller format in Fla.

Publix is exploring the possibility of opening smaller format stores in the North Florida area, according to the Gainesville Sun.

The Sun is reporting that the Southern grocery chain has been talking to Gainesville, Fla., city officials about a site near the University of Florida.

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RPAI acquires Woodinville Plaza in Seattle

Oak Brook, Ill. — Retail Properties of America, Inc. (RPAI) has closed on the acquisition of Woodinville Plaza located in the Seattle Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The property was acquired on an unencumbered basis for a gross purchase price of $35.3 million.
U.K. self-serve coffee retailer leverages Watson Analytics

London, U.K. — Honest Cafe, an automated coffee house chain in London, is using IBM Watson Analytics to unearth client insights to help determine everything from coffee products and pricing, to marketing and promotions. Honest Cafe is a new venture from Revive Vending where three cafes currently in operation, and four more planned, are all unmanned.
Aldi to enter California market in 2016 with 25 stores

Batavia, Ill. — Discount grocery powerhouse Aldi announced plans enter the nation’s most populous state, opening approximately 25 stores in Southern California by July 2016. The chain’s expansion to California is an integral part of a five-year strategic plan to open 650 new stores across the nation. By the end of 2018, Aldi expects to operate nearly 2,000 stores.
Trustwave: Retail most compromised industry in 2014, with e-commerce assets most targeted

Chicago -- Retail was the most compromised industry in 2014, making up 43% of breach investigations, according to a study by Trustwave that gathered data from 574 breach investigations the company conducted in 2014 across 15 countries. Retail made up 43% of the investigations, followed by food and beverage, which made up 13% of the investigations.

The “2015 Trustwave Global Security Report” found that 64% of the breaches in the retail industry were of e-commerce assets and 27% were of POS assets.
Former Dollar General executive returns as store operations VP

Goodlettsville, Tenn. - Jeff Owen will rejoin Dollar General Corp. as executive VP of store operations effective June 15. Owen previously spent more than 20 years with Dollar General, where his most recent role was senior VP of store operations.

Dollar General also announced that Greg Sparks, executive VP of store operations, has departed effective June 9, 2015.
Volta electric car charger network includes Macy’s, Whole Foods

San Francisco -- Volta Industries is launching a network of more than 100 free electric car charging stations across five cities. Participating retailers include Macy’s and Whole Foods.

Volta first began in Honolulu by offering free electric car charging services underwritten by local brands. Since then, Volta has deployed initial charging infrastructure in high-volume, retail locations in five major cities, including the San Francisco Bay area, the Los Angeles metropolitan area, San Diego, Phoenix, and Honolulu.
Poll: Cleanliness of facilities matters to consumers

Cincinnati -- Consumers take online reviews seriously — particularly when it comes to reviews about the cleanliness of a business, according to a new Harris Poll conducted by Cintas Corp. The survey revealed that 85% of respondents would not patronize businesses with negative online reviews about the cleanliness of its facilities. Restaurants (75%) ranked at the top of the list of businesses where cleanliness most greatly impacted buying habits.