Convenience Stores

Walmart has experimented with grocery delivery and store pick up in the U.S. for several years and now it is testing the waters in Canada.

Walmart chose Ottawa, a medium-sized city an hour west of Montreal in the French-speaking province of Quebec, as the first market in Canada to receive the Online Grocery Pickup service. Eleven stores in the city are part of the program. Six locations are scheduled to go live on July 7 with another five stores due to come online July 21. Walmart operates 395 stores throughout Canada.

RadioShack plans to enhance its in-store experience and deliver an exciting new product mix now that it has $75 million in new funding.

General Wireless Operations Inc., doing business as RadioShack, has completed new financing consisting of a $50 million asset-based lending credit facility led by RBC Capital Markets and a $25 million first-in last-out term loan led by Great American Capital Partners.

St. Petersburg, Fla. - The Sembler Co. recently broke ground on the 65,000-sq-ft Shoppes at Trinity Lakes, a Publix-anchored shopping center located in Trinity, Florida. In addition to the 45,600-sq-ft Publix and 1,400-sq-ft Publix Liquor Store, Sembler has signed leases with nearly 11,000 sq. ft. of retailers new to the Trinity market.

U.S. grocery shopping habits appear to be changing as consumers increasingly seek out the convenience of online ordering when it comes to food, according to a new study.

Family Dollar had a dip in profit in the third quarter as the company reported higher costs ahead of its planned merger with Dollar Tree.

Family Dollar Stores Inc. reported a profit of $79.9 million, or 70 cents a share, for the third quarter ended May 30, down from $81.1 million, or 71 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding restructuring- and merger-related charges, the company’s profit was 74 cents a share, compared with 85 cents a year earlier. Net sales rose 2.60% to $2.73 billion.

It is no secret that the retail landscape has – and is – rapidly evolving, in large part due to the explosive growth of mobile. While it is certainly common now for retailers to have an online presence, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re all catering to the complex needs of today’s shoppers.

Dublin, Calif. -- dd’s Discounts, a division of Ross Stores, Inc., opened a new store in Tampa on June 27.  

The 22,000-sq.-ft. store, located in University Plaza on the northwest corner of Fletcher Avenue and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, marks the retailer’s 26th store in Florida and secures the state as dd’s third-largest in terms of store counts.

With consumers’ “I want it now” mentality, today’s retailers seem to be investing in ways to get products to customers faster. Retailers are scrambling to get their products to customers with overnight, same-day, four-hour, one-hour and other delivery options. Such offers help on two fronts: they satisfy the needy customer and give the perception that one retailer is offering more options than others to differentiate the brand.