Convenience Stores

New York -- Tesco Plc’s Fresh & Easy chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as part of a plan to sell most of the U.S. chain’s 167 stores to a private equity firm led by billionaire Ron Burkle.

Fresh & Easy cited debt between $500 million and $1 billion in a court filing on Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. According to the documents, a unit of Tesco will end up with a 22.5% stake in the Yucaipa affiliate that acquires the supermarket chain.

San Diego  — Representing a real estate investment trust, The Mansour Group has sold a portfolio of five Applebee’s for $13.3 million.

To complete the transaction, The Mansour Group sourced a private high net worth California investor, who sold an apartment complex and acquired the portfolio through a 1031 exchange. The restaurants are located in North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Minnesota and Kentucky:

Steve McKinney was named president of Kroger’s Fry’s Food Stores division in Arizona to succeed Jon Flora who passed away unexpectedly two weeks ago.

McKinney, 57, had previously served as vp of operations at Kroger’s Ralph’s division in California since 2007. The Fry’s division operates 119 stores in Arizona.

City Of Commerce, Calif. — 99 Cents Only has announced the opening of two new stores. The retailer will open an 18,960o-sq.-ft. store in McAllen, Texas, and an 11,685-sq.-ft. store in Laveen, Ariz. The grand opening of each store will feature the sale of Westinghouse Flat Screen TVs for only 99 cents each to the first nine customers in line to visit the store.

Both stores will feature a perishable food department, including produce, dairy and frozen foods.
 

Cincinnati -- The Kroger Co. has promoted Steve McKinney to president of the Fry's Food Stores division. Fry's operates 119 food stores in Arizona.

McKinney, 57, has been VP of operations at the company's Ralphs division since 2007. He succeeds Jon Flora, who passed away unexpectedly two weeks ago.

Mobile retail apps are nothing new, but retailers are constantly adding new features and functions that maximize their reach and value. Here’s a brief look at five cool mobile retail apps that have all been launched or piloted in the past few months:

Amazon.com Mobile Associates API

October 2013 is projected to be the coolest in four years for the U.S. as a whole. Expect colder year-on-year trends across the Northeast and Southwest, especially during retail weeks one, three and four. Wetter trends will encompass the Texas to Louisiana Gulf Coast, where tropical storm and hurricane potential will be the highest should any storms develop this month and threaten the U.S. mainland. The northern tier of the U.S. will trend drier than last year, especially across the Great Lakes.

Single Touch Systems, a technology based mobile media solutions provider, has announced that its mobile messaging volume, which is a key business metric that drives revenues, has been growing at an increasingly accelerated pace.

Single Touch generates a portion of its operating business revenues by sending SMS text messages including reminder messages to customers of some of the largest retailers in the U.S. and U.K. Each message sent generates incremental revenues for Single Touch.

Auburn, Ala. — Toomer’s Coffee Company and Auburn Rays have each leased 1,400 sq. ft. in Hamilton Place Shopping Center in Auburn, Ala., according to Pine Tree Commercial, which owns the property in partnership with Privet Investments LLC and Silverpeak Real Estate Partners.

The Shopping Center Group represented the landlord in the transaction.

New York -- The parent company of Bi-Lo and Winn-Dixie supermarkets, Southeaster Grocers, has filed for an initial public offering.  

The shares are expected to be offered by Southeastern Grocers, and the number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined.