Convenience Stores

Austin, Texas – Whole Foods Market has received approval for the design of a planned 40,000-sq.-ft. store from the Planning and Design Review Board of the City of Miami Beach. The design features a well-proportioned grid of white concrete, establishing a pedestrian loggia at the ground level, and a floating garden above that screens the parking.  

Brentwood, Tenn. - Tractor Supply Co. is extending its private label credit card relationship with Citi Retail Services. The multi-year extension builds on an existing 15-year partnership with Citi.

Pittsburgh – Dick’s Sporting Goods is opening a combination store format.

The retailer will open its first “All-American Sports Center” on July 23 at McGowin Park in Mobile, Alabama. The concept features a Dick's Sporting Goods and a Field & Stream store in one location under the same roof.  

Customers benefit from an expanded assortment and the ability to move between the two stores once inside, creating a unique, exciting shopping experience, Dick’s said.

Fred's Inc. says the expansion of its specialty pharmacy business helped drive an increase in sales in June.

Fred's total sales for the period ended July 4 increased 12% to $212.9 million from $190.8 million in June 2014. Excluding $7.4 million from last year's June sales for 56 subsequently closed locations, total sales increased 16% for the month. Same store sales for the month increased 1.6% compared with a decrease of 0.6% in the same period last year.

Phoenix -- DTZ, a leader in commercial real estate services, announced that a limited partnership formed by Weingarten Realty Investors of Houston acquired The Summit at Scottsdale, a 190,408-sq.-ft. retail center anchored by Safeway and Target, for $54.1 million.

Donahue Schriber Realty Group, L.P., of Costa Mesa, California, was the seller of the property located on the southeast corner of Scottsdale Road and Ashler Hills Drive in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Headwinds from fuel price fluctuations and currency exchange rates lessened for Costco in June as the retailer posted a bump in same store sales.

The warehouse club reported net sales of $11.01 billion for the month of June, the five weeks ended July 5, an increase of 1% from $10.88 billion during the similar period last year. Same store sales, excluding the negative impacts from gasoline price deflation and foreign exchange, were 6%. 

New York -- Although the list of retailers reporting monthly sales has grown considerably slim over the past few years, a handful are still going public with the metric.

Costco Wholesale Corp. announced on Thursday that its same-store sales fell 1% in June, following a 1% drop in its most recent quarter (ended May 1), which was the chain’s first quarterly drop since 2009.

New York -- Trader Joe’s is opening a store in the heart of what is arguably the nation’s hippest enclave.

The grocer has signed a lease to open an 18,000-sq.-ft. in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, reported Crain’s New York.

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