Convenience Stores

Little known food retailer Haggen Northwest Fresh will grow its store base more than 800% following a Federal Trade Commission mandate that Albertson’s and Safeway divest 168 stores.

Few people have heard of Haggen outside Washington and Oregon, where the company operates 18 stores, but now the food retailer is about to get dramatically bigger and expand its presence to three more western states.

Boise, Idaho – As part of divestures to receive FTC clearance of their proposed January 2015 merger, AB Acquisitions Inc. (Albertsons) and Safeway Inc. will sell 146 stores to Pacific Northwest grocery chain Haggen. With this acquisition, which remains subject to FTC approval, Haggen will expand from 18 stores with 16 pharmacies to 164 stores with 106 pharmacies.

Fort Worth, Texas – The management shakeup continues at RadioShack Corp. Jennifer Warren, chief marketing officer of the troubled consumer electronics chain, has reportedly left the company.   According to the Wall Street Journal, Warren, who had served as chief marketing officer since early 2013 and was responsible for a highly publicized Super Bowl ad featuring 1980s celebrities, no longer works for RadioShack. There are no other details on her departure and Warren and RadioShack declined further comment. 

Mexico City - Wal-Mart de Mexico said that that Enrique Ostale, Walmex chairman and Latin America CEO for Wal-Mart Stores, will also take over as CEO of the Mexican company, effective January 1.  

Poughkeepsie, New York - DLC Management Corporation announced its latest acquisition: The Shoppes at South Hills, a 518,000-sq.-ft. grocery-anchored power center in Poughkeepsie, New York.   This acquisition aligns well with DLC’s operations and features anchor tenants ShopRite, Burlington Coat Factory, Christmas Tree Shop, Hobby Lobby and Kmart. Other tenants include Ashley Furniture HomeStore, Bob’s Discount Furniture, and Chuck E. Cheese’s.   

Mexico City, Mexico - Grupo Financiero Inbursa, a banking firm owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, has reportedly bought the bank division of Wal-Mart de Mexico (Walmex) for $246.94 million, or 1.7 times Walmex’s bank capital.

 

According to Reuters, Walmex has been focusing on selling its non-core assets, such as its restaurant division, in the past year.

Columbus, Ga. - McDonald’s franchises in Columbus, Georgia are integrating Bluetooth beacon technology from beacon solution provider Piper to deliver coupon offers, timely alerts, employment opportunities and customer surveys right as customers enter the establishments.   

Canton, Mass. - Dunkin' Brands Group Inc., the parent company of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, plans to add between 410 and 440 net new U.S. Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants five to 10 net new Baskin-Robbins U.S. restaurants in 2015. Globally, the company expects to open between 615 and 750 net new units in the coming year.