Convenience Stores

Costco Wholesale Corp. has opened the doors to its second location in Louisiana, in the city of Baton Rouge. (The warehouse club giant made its Louisiana debut last fall, in New Orleans.) The store includes a bakery, fresh deli, food court, gas station, pharmacy and independent optometrist.

New York – Barnes & Noble Inc. reportedly plans to open about 300 new stores on college and university campuses in the next five years. According to Reuters, Barnes & Noble wants to expand its college bookstore footprint from the current 696 locations to 1,000.

Roundy's saw net sales increase by 1.9% to $1 billion, and reported a net loss of $4.5 million compared with net income of $8.6 million.

Boise, Idaho - Associated Grocers of Florida is adopting recall process management technology from Recall InfoLink. Recall InfoLink offers a Web-based product recall management platform that protects brand image and reduces liability for businesses involved in processing recalls.

It improves efficiency by providing standardized messages, automated communications, inventory tracking and reports for compliance efforts.

Walmart has gotten the green light to build its drive-in grocery center in Bentonville, Ark., near the intersection of S. Walton Blvd. and J St., according to an article in The City Wire.

The article reported that Bentonville’s Planning Commission approved Walmart’s request “to approve slight variations in its parking stall depths, number of curb cuts and the building materials . . . with no discussion.”

Fred's plans to implement a long-term marketing strategy stressing everyday low pricing and the convenience of a smaller box to help bolster sales against what the company describes as "intense competitive pressures." The company's pharmacy operations continue to grow, however.

Fred's reported $150 million in sales for the four weeks ended May 3, representing a decline of 1.6% as compared to year-ago sales. For the first quarter ended May 3, sales totaled $498.5 million, down 0.6%.

Washington, D.C. -- More than two-thirds of U.S. shoppers will buy gift cards during the spring and summer seasons, according to a just-released survey by the Retail Gift Card Association.

Buying occasions include Mother’s Day, graduation and weddings. Key findings of the RGCA spring and summer gift card study, which polled more than 1,100 American shoppers, include:

Cupertino, Calif. -- Voltage Security announced a new product integration with device manufacturer Uniform Industrial Corp. (UIC) that provides end-to-end data encryption for the retail payments industry, a key technology in light of the recent data breaches. (Chain Store Age will host a Webinar on data security sponsored by Voltage Security, “Lessons Learned: What to Do NOW to Protect Stores Against Data Breaches,” on May 13. Register here.)