Convenience Stores

Rochester, N.Y. – Wegmans Food Markets Inc. plans to open 10 new stores in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions. The stores include one in Maryland, two in Massachusetts, two in New Jersey, one in Pennsylvania, and four in Virginia.

Youngstown, Ohio — AVI Foodsystems and Cafaro Co. have teamed to bring Bob Evans Farms into the mall food court environment.

Warren, Ohio-based AVI collaborated with Bob Evans Farms to introduce Bob Evans Express, which scales down the traditional Bob Evans restaurant into a concept that works in venues such as workplace cafes, airports, travel plazas and universities.

NCR Corporation, a leading global consumer transaction technologies developer, has appointed Michael Bayer as SVP and president of the company’s retail solutions division. Bayer will report to NCR chairman and CEO Bill Nuti.

Laval, Canada - Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. will acquire 55 Super Pantry convenience stores and related assets from Tri Star Marketing Inc. Fifty-one of the stores are located in the state of Illinois ,and four stores located in the state of Indiana. These stores offer Phillips 66 and Mobil branded motor fuel.

By Bill Davis, Director, MB&G Consulting

For much of the last year, traditional brick-and-mortar retailers have been mired in a slump. Not only was last holiday season the toughest in several years, the consumer discretionary sector, which includes retail, was the only one of the 10 macro S&P sectors to be in the red for the first half of 2014. As a result, retail is widely perceived to be in a funk.

Washington, D.C. – The National Retail Federation (NRF) has named Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va. and Rep. John Kline, R-Minn.as NRF’s Legislators of the Year. The awards presentation was made during the Retail Advocates Summit, NRF’s annual congressional fly-in.

Matthews, N.C. – Activist investor Carl Icahn, who had been pressuring Family Dollar to sell the company, has reduced his ownership stake in the company from 9.39% to 6.09%.

Charleston, S.C. - Del Taco LLC has selected the Benefitfocus HR InTouch Marketplace to support benefits administration and address relative requirements set forth by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). HR InTouch Marketplace provides a single online portal that integrates benefits-related employee data and information in one place, allowing Del Taco to efficiently manage benefit eligibility, enrollment and education for its whole workforce.