Convenience Stores

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.

Mooresville, N.C. – Lowe’s has launched ProExpress, an on-demand delivery service for professional customers. Since April 2014, light-duty trucks have made thousands of deliveries directly to business sites to meet a wide range of needs.

Through the program, Lowe's has helped pros by fulfilling emergency orders such as smoke detectors to pass an inspection, or shingles to complete a job before a damaging storm. The ProExpress trucks also regularly visit businesses to restock shelves with cleaning and maintenance supplies. 

Emeryville, Calif. – Jamba Inc., parent company of the Jamba Juice chain, is launching a new franchise recruiting campaign focused on single-store development in existing and new domestic markets. Jamba is looking to add 500 new domestic stores in the next five years and double year-over-year store development via the new recruiting program.

Canton, Mass. -- Dunkin' Donuts is partnering with Discovery Channel to create an omnichannel marketing promotion for Discovery Channel’s upcoming “Shark Week” programming event the week of Aug. 10. To kick-off the partnership, beginning July 29 customers can "Take a Bite, Take a Pic."

WTI expects August 2014 temperatures to trend similar to last year for the U.S. as a whole. Much of the East will trend warmer than last year with the Southeast also trending warmer than normal. Summer clearance promotions will see the biggest returns during the first three weeks of the retail month in the eastern half of the nation. A sharp change to colder weather at the end of the month in the North will be more favorable for back-to-school and autumn categories. Precipitation will be greater than last year across the Plains for the month overall.

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Fujitsu is partnering with OnCue Technologies, a developer of in-aisle point-of-information solutions, to resell OnCue Technologies' InfoCue and Expert OnCue mini-kiosk solutions to big-box, grocery, beverage and hardware retailers in the U.S. OnCue Technologies' cloud-based, customizable mini kiosks enable retailers to deliver expert advice and product information to customers in the aisle without requiring employee training.

The National Retail Federation (NRF), Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), Food Marketing Institute (FMI), Merchant Advisory Group, National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), National Grocers Association and National Restaurant Association (NRA) are jointly calling for an open and universal tokenization standard in the U.S. payments system.

The groups released a statement saying payment card data is currently vulnerable to theft where card information is swiped or entered, where card information is stored, and where it is transmitted.

Los Angeles – Global real estate investment and services firm Kennedy Wilson has closed four retail and entertainment lease transactions in Hollywood, Santa Monica and Westchester. This collection of new leases, which carry an aggregate value of more than $3 million, points to an uptick in the Los Angeles retail market.