Convenience Stores

City of Commerce, Calif. — 99 Cents Only Stores opens its first store in Waco, Texas on Thursday, Jan. 9. The new store is approximately 13,000 square feet and will feature a perishable food department, including produce, dairy and frozen foods.

99 Cents Only Stores currently operates 339 extreme value retail stores consisting of 244 stores in California, 45 in Texas, 33 in Arizona, and 17 in Nevada.

Bentonville, Ark. — Wal-Mart is reportedly recalling donkey meat it sells in China after testing revealed the meat contained fox DNA. According to Bloomberg, Wal-Mart detected fox DNA in samples of donkey meat from Chinese supplier Dezhou Fujude Food Company Ltd., and has since withdrawn all products from the company from its shelves.

Extreme value retailer 99 Cents Only will use its entry into the Waco, Texas, market to unveil a store format considerably smaller than any of its other locations.

The City of Commerce, Calif-based operator of 339 stores said its new store in Waco will open on Jan. 9 and measure about 13,000 sq. ft. That size is well below the company’s average store size of 21,000 sq. ft. and also below the range of 15,000 to 20,000 sq. ft. the company had previously identified as its sweet spot for new stores.

This holiday season was one of the first real opportunities for retailers to flex their omnichannel muscle. A shorter-than-usual holiday season, combined with ongoing economic uncertainty, led consumers to turn to a variety of shopping channels in their search for the most efficient and cost-effective way to round out their gifting lists. Likewise, many shoppers also demonstrated a desire to return products across these various channels. But were retailers ready?

Raj Jain, the former head of a joint venture between Walmart and Bharti Enterprises, has joined Bharti Retail as CEO.

Jain spent six years with the joint venture, Bharti Walmart, most recently serving as president of Walmart India. He left the joint venture in June 2013, four months before Walmart and Bharti announced they would independently pursue retail opportunities in India.

Joining Jain at Bharti Retail is his former joint venture colleague Panka Madan who will serve as CFO. Madan also served as CFO of Bharti Walmart but left the joint venture in 2012.

New York — Due to the holiday rush and related closings, sister publication Chain Store Age has extended the deadline for its 32nd annual Retail Store of the Year Design Competition until Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014.

Altoona, Pa. — David Woodley, VP of sales and marketing for convenience store chain Sheetz, has moved into the executive VP spot vacated by Louie Sheetz.

Louisville, Ky. — GBT Realty Corp. has closed on the purchase of approximately 32 acres along Shelbyville Road at I-265 for the development of Middletown Commons in Louisville, Ky. Plans call for the first tenants to open in late 2014.

The mixed-use power center will include more than 225,000 sq. ft. of retail space and six outparcels ranging from 0.6 acres to 1.88 acres. According to GBT Realty, total development costs will likely exceed $50 million.

David Woodley was elevated to the role of executive vice president of sales and marketing at the innovative and family owned Sheetz chain of 460 convenience stores.

The New Year began in unconventional fashion for retailers in Colorado where legal sales of marijuana by specialty shops are creating wide-ranging ramifications for other retailers.

Products with curious sounding names such as Trainwreck and Sour Diesel went on sales early Wednesday morning at shops in Colorado where residents can buy up to one ounce per day after voters in 2012 approved an amendment to the state constitution. A similar measure was passed in Washington state and stores there are expected to begin marijuana sales later this year.