Convenience Stores

Deerfield, Ill. - Walgreens had March 2014 sales of $6.43 billion, an increase of 4.5% from $6.16 billion for the same month in fiscal 2013.

Same-store sales increased by 3.5% in March. Calendar day shifts positively impacted total same-store sales by 0.6%.

Instacart said it launched its same day grocery delivery service in the Los Angeles area this week as part of a nationwide rollout to urban markets.

In late March, the company began offering its service in the New York area. Instacart employs a crowd-sourced business model which matches grocery orders with personal shoppers who deliver products using their own vehicles in as little as one hour.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation (NRF) has urged Congress to pass the bipartisan Save American Workers Act, which would change the Affordable Care Act’s definition of full-time employment from 30 hours per week to 40 hours. NRF sent a letter to the House saying all votes related to the bill, H.R. 2575, would be considered key votes for the association’s annual scorecard.

Sam’s Club and the Gallup organization have launched a new quarterly tracking poll that focuses on the smallest of small business.

The poll is designed to look at what Sam’s is calling “microbusiness,” companies with five or fewer employees, that represent a core customer of Sam’s Club and are estimated to total 25 million.

New York -- Consumers worldwide are increasingly using multi-platform devices, especially mobile, to enhance their in-store shopping experience, according to a study by global digital and technology agency DigitasLBi.

In the study, "Connected Commerce: A Snapshot of the Modern Shopper,” 71% of Americans say that using a mobile phone while shopping inside a store could affect their buying decisions.

New York — Pita Grill has signed a 12-year lease for 2,700-sq. ft. in Greenwich Village at 496 LaGuardia Place between West Houston and Bleecker Streets. The space includes 1,350 sq. ft. on the ground floor and 1,350 sq. ft. on the lower level. The quick-service restaurant will be the chain’s ninth location since if first opened a few blocks away at West 4th Street in 1994.

New York -- U.S. convenience outlets reached record in-store sales in 2013, with sales climbing 2.4% to $204 billion. Combined with gasoline sales of $491.5 billion, overall convenience store sales were $695.5 billion, according to figures released by the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS). Convenience stores account for 34.3% of all retail outlets in the United States, according to Nielsen, which is significantly higher than the U.S. total of other retail channels including drugstores.

New York — JLL has named Robert Gibson vice chairman of New York retail brokerage. He will be responsible for the growth of retail tenant and agency leasing in New York.

Most recently, vice chairman with Cushman & Wakefield Inc.’s Midtown Manhattan office, Gibson has more than 26 years of retail leasing experience in New York and nationally.