Convenience Stores

By Gary Ambrosino, CEO of TimeTrade Systems

Too often in retail, disruptions are viewed as bad things, but new digital disruptions, including 3-D printing and digital currencies, are transforming what consumers expect from their shopping experience and how they interact with physical and online retailers — for the better.

The Arts and Crafts retailer went to the mat over its religious convictions, and on Monday the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the privately held company in a rebuke of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.
 
Hobby Lobby co-founder Barbara Green said her family was overjoyed by the Supreme Court’s decision.
 

El Paso, Texas – A 20,000-sq.-ft. retail center is planned to open in El Paso, Texas, this summer. The center will be constructed by EP Riverbend Development and real estate broker Will Brown on a mostly empty site occupied by a single liquor store, which will be torn down.

The center will be called The Substation and offer spaces as small as 800 sq. ft. for rental. Plans include outdoor spaces and seating and a closed pedestrian mall. Construction is set to begin in the fall.

WTI expects July 2014 to trend similar to last year for the U.S. as a whole. The East will trend near normal or cooler than normal, while warmer than normal temperatures will be confined to the West. Overall, the peak of the summer is shaping up to be very similar to 2013 but with a few major timing differences. Unlike 2013, the hotter weather in 2014 will be back-end loaded in the month just as back-to-school shopping begins, which is a negative for early fall apparel, but favorable for clearing out summer inventory.

Columbus, Ohio — Casto has completed the redevelopment of Sawmill Square shopping center in the Dublin/NW Columbus area of Central Ohio. The redevelopment included the opening of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter.

The center has also added a McAlister’s Deli, the first in Central Ohio. McAlister will join other new tenants, Sally Beauty and GameStop, as well as the existing line-up of retailers including Z Salon, The UPS Store, Thai Orchid, Huntington Bank, Skyline Chili, Burger King, Goodyear and PNC.


 

Payment Alliance International (PAI), a leading retail ATM solutions company, and OnPoint Community Credit Union have entered into an agreement to brand ATMs at all 72 Rite Aid pharmacies in Oregon.

PAI will own and operate the ATMs, which will be outfitted with OnPoint Community Credit Union’s branding. OnPoint members will have surcharge-free access to cash at Oregon Rite Aid pharmacies beginning July.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens opened a two-story, flagship in the north tower of  Chicago’s iconic Wrigley Building on June 25.

A unique design, the store’s gradient color pattern and indirect lighting features complement the building’s exterior. A mosaic floor motif of the building’s famous clock welcomes customers as they enter off of Michigan Avenue.

New York — Cohen Real Estate, a Manhattan-based full-service brokerage firm specializing in retail properties throughout the United States, has been retained to market Shoppes of Silverwood, a full-service strip shopping center located in Ricon, Georgia.