Convenience Stores

New York — Winick Realty Group has negotiated leases bringing three new retailers to the Flatbush Avenue retail Corridor in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Starbucks, Game Champ and Cohen’s Fashion Optical will all open doors at 395 Flatbush Avenue Extension, a full-block retail site anchored by Applebee’s and McDonald’s.

Winick represented landlord Rabina Properties in all three transactions.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores detailed a number of moves, including opening smaller stores in the United States, cutting back on overseas growth and increasing its investments in technology and e-commerce,  on the occasion of the  company’s 20th annual investor meeting.

Bentonville, Ark. – A computer glitch reportedly eliminated limits on the debit card limits of food stamp recipients in some Wal-Mart stores in northern Louisiana on Oct. 12. According to Reuters, managers of Wal-Mart stores in Springhill, and Mansfield, La., called local police when large numbers of shoppers began coming in and purchasing huge volumes of products on electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards that had no credit limit.

Canton, Mass. -- Dunkin’ Donuts announced it is expanding to California's Central Valley and Central Coast, including Fresno, Bakersfield, Sacramento and Santa Barbara, Calif. The company is recruiting qualified multi-unit operators to open both traditional restaurants and a wide range of non-traditional venues, including colleges and universities, casinos, military bases, supermarkets, airports and travel centers. Over time, Dunkin' Donuts plans to have as many as 1,000 restaurants throughout the state.

Walmart will be opening more small stores next year and beyond as the company pursues a vision of omnichannel retailing that it contends no other company is capable of executing.

Walmart U.S. president and CEO Bill Simon on Tuesday morning shared a message of physical and digital convergence involving an acceleration of smaller format stores and continued advancement of the retailer’s digital capabilities. He suggested multiple times during his presentation that the company has reached an inflection point in terms of building a next generation retail enterprise.

Atlanta -- VeriFone Systems announced that Holiday Oil of West Valley, Utah, has completed a chain wide rollout of its in-store marketing solution, LiftRetail.

The solution uses POS-connected digital screens to engage each shopper with relevant offers and coupons. Additionally, it analyzes each item in a shopper’s basket in real-time to make the right offer to the right shopper at the right time. The result is a proven increase in sales, delighted shoppers, and empowered cashiers.
 

Austin, Texas — Jones Lang LaSalle has hired Todd Wallace and Robert O’Farrell to lead its retail brokerage practice in Austin, Texas. Wallace joins the firm as an executive VP and O’Farrell will serve as a senior VP.

“We’re committed to growing our local market retail practice in key hubs around the United States,” said Greg Maloney, president and CEO of Retail, Jones Lang LaSalle.

Chicago -- Consumers value the retail store experience on multiple levels and continue to make the vast majority of their purchases in stores, according to a new study from global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney. The report found that the physical store is the channel of choice across all ages (from Millennial to senior citizens) and household income levels (from less than $25,000 per year to more than $100,000 per year).