Convenience Stores

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in March 2013 versus March 2014 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains. H.E.B. and Publix topped the charts in circular page change, with increases of 27.8% and 41.2%, respectively. The massive increase at Publix was attributable to the release of an additional circular this March (five versus four in 2013), while H.E.B. simply ran more pages in each of its five March circulars (eight to 12 pages each this year, as opposed to six to eight last year).

Alameda, Calif. — Bagel Street Café and The Best Lil’ Porkhouse have signed into South Shore Center on the waterfront in Alameda, Calif. Jamestown, a national real estate investment and management firm, owns the center.

Bagel Street Café has signed a 10-year lease for 2,323 sq. ft. and plans to open this summer. SRS Real Estate Partners represented Bagel Street.

The Best Lil’ Porkhouse signed a 10-year lease for 3,639 sq. ft.

Ankeny, Iowa -- Casey’s General Stores has selected Softeon’s warehouse managements ystem (WMS), as well as its load planning, yard management, and labor management applications, to improve efficiency and accuracy of its DC operations and drive additional throughput from existing DCs to enable them to support addition of new retail stores in the same physical footprint.

The shift toward electronic payments has had the unintended consequence of hindering shoppers’ ability to donate to charitable causes at the point of sale, but not anymore.

Cary, N.C. -- The board of directors of The Pantry Inc. has elected Thomas W. "Tad" Dickson, former chairman and CEO of Harris Teeter Supermarkets Inc., to serve as chairman of the board of directors. He replaces Edwin J. Holman, who was chairman of the board since September 2009.

Washington, D.C. -- The Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS), a division of the National Retail Federation, is releasing its Change4Charity Standard. If adopted by point-of-sale vendors and donation processors, the standard will lower costs for retailers and support greater participation in charity programs by smaller retailers and non-profits.

Sylmar, Calif. – A new Vallarta Supermarkets store opens in Hesperia, Calif., on April 9. The 42,000-sq.-ft. location will offer specialty departments including a bakery, full-service meat counter, fresh produce, a hot food deli (Taqueria) with in-store dining, a shuttle service and a customer service department that offers check cashing, money transfers and utility bill payments.

Fredericton, Canada -- Plaza Retail REIT plans six new Canadian retail projects: four new re-developments and two new ground-up development projects. Four projects are located in Quebec, one in Atlantic Canada and one in Ontario.

In all, Plaza will be investing approximately $24 million for its share of these six new projects and will add approximately 155,000-sq.-ft. to its portfolio of retail properties (at Plaza's ownership percentage). The Ontario project and three Quebec projects are being developed with joint venture partners.