Convenience Stores

Solid sales growth at Costco during the second quarter and a 6% same store sales increase at U.S. clubs did not translate into strong profits for the warehouse club operator whose earnings fell shy of analysts’ estimates.

Supermarket industry veteran Peter Lynch was named to the board of directors at Retail Properties of America (RPAI).

The publicly held owner and operator of 227 properties encompassing 31.2 million square feet said Lynch’s extensive experience in the grocery industry would aid RPAI in its repositioning efforts.

Fred’s wants to be what it calls “the convenient small box store of choice” and to achieve that goal, it has embarked on a two-pronged strategy focused on general merchandise and pharmacy.

San Jose, Calif. – Second quarter 2014 will be less of a hardship for retailers than the first quarter, which started off the spring season on a negative trend across the metrics of traffic, conversion rate and sales per store (SPS). Data from store analytics technology provider RetailNext indicates that compared to the second quarter of 2013, traffic at brick-and-mortar stores nationwide will be down 6%, SPS flat and sales down 4%.

Spindle, a leading provider of mobile commerce solutions, has signed a strategic agreement with Moolah, an independent sales organization that serves thousands of merchants across the US.

Moolah will integrate Spindle's merchant aggregation and payment processing infrastructure into its e-commerce and mobile offerings, enabling Moolah to offer instant merchant onboarding, increase merchant approval rates and allow those customers to begin accepting credit card payments in approximately 10 minutes.

Dallas -- Fast-casual restaurant chain Corner Bakery Café announced two multi-unit development agreements with California-based businessman Anil Yadav, CEO of JIB Management, who plans to open 16 cafes in Seattle, and seven in Las Vegas, over the next seven years.
 

Kansas City, Kan. — Lids and Haggar Clothing Co. will open at Legends Outlets Kansas City in Kanas City, Kansas, over the Memorial Day weekend. Lids will occupy a 1,368-sq.-ft. space, and Haggar has taken 2,476-sq. ft.

The new tenants will join other recent new tenants including Woody’s Automotive, sweetFrog, Pizza Studio, Bath & Body Works, Nail Envy and Coach Factory.
 

The Lovely Candy Company has expanded its gluten- and GMO-free line with a gluten-free licorice, which it touts as the first gluten-free extruded licorice product in North America.

Branded as Lovely Licorice, the product is marketed to consumers with food sensitivities such as celiac disease. The gluten-free licorice is the brainchild of company founder Mike Nakamura, whose wife has not been able to have licorice because of her gluten-free dietary restraints. Nakamura founded the company in 2013 as a result of her request for licorice she could eat.

Mars Chocolate has announced a slew of new products, which range from Mars Bites to Dove Whole Fruit Dipped in Dark Chocolate.

Mars Bites give consumers a taste of their favorite candy bars in bite-size pieces. Mars is adding Twix, Musketeers and Milky Way bites to the portfolio. The suggested retail price is $1.49 for a 2.83-oz. sharing size. A 6-oz. stand up pouch is available for a SRP of $2.99.

Oakville, Canada – The Tim Hortons TimmyMe iOS app now includes support for Passbook. Customers can add their prepaid Tim card to Passbook, which they can then scan to pay in-store or at the drive-thru in participating locations.

The TimmyMe app also offers a store finder and nutritional data.