Convenience Stores

Ankeny, Iowa -- Casey's General Stores Inc. reported Monday that profit for the third quarter rose 30% to $16.7 million, from $12.9 million a year earlier. Casey's revenue rose from $1.37 billion to $1.58 billion.

Both figures missed Wall Street estimates.

Tustin, Calif. -- Present Value Properties announced Tuesday that Annette Kolb has been named director of real estate for the firm.

Kolb will be responsible for the real estate needs of national chain retailers including Pizza Hut, Long John Silver and Jack in the Box franchisees located in Phoenix, Dallas and Missouri. She will handle lease extensions/renegotiations, new locations and relocations and be based in Phoenix.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Higher front-end sales for the month of February helped counter-balance lost revenue from Express Scripts prescriptions, Walgreeens reported Monday. Overall, the drug store chain reported a 1.5% sales increase to $5.9 billion.

Shares of Walgreens were up slightly by 8 cents to $32.77 in early morning trading.

This year’s total February sales benefited from one extra day because of leap year, the company noted. 

PITTSBURGH — Dick’s Sporting Goods plans to open three new stores in three states on March 7.

A new store in St. George, Utah, will open simultaneously with new locations in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and Boardman, Ohio. Giveaways and special events will accompany each opening.

The St. George, Utah, store, the retailer’s third in the state, is located at Red Rock Commons shopping center. The Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., store joins 17 other Dick’s stores in the state and will be located at the Regions Bank Plaza.

Mississauga, Ontario -- Canadian discount store chain The Bargain! Shop said Monday that it will acquire 10 retail locations from Hudson's Bay Co.’s closing Fields banner, effective Aug. 1.

The acquisitions will grow The Bargain! Shop to 237 stores.

"As part of our plan to further grow our organization, this is a great opportunity for us to expand our footprint across Canada," said Lloyd Davis, president of The Bargain! Shop. 

Sioux Falls, S.D. -- Verizon Wireless services retailer Z Wireless, which operates 12 stores throughout Kansas, on Monday announced the acquisition of T2 Wireless, another Verizon retailer which operates more than a hundred stores in the Great Plains.

Atlantic Street Capital, a private equity firm investing in the lower middle market, acquired Z Wireless in 2011.

Deerfield, Ill. — Higher front-end sales for the month of February helped counter-balance lost revenue from Express Scripts prescriptions, Walgreeens reported Monday. Overall, the drug store chain reported a 1.5% sales increase to $5.9 billion.

Shares of Walgreens were up slightly by 8 cents to $32.77 in early morning trading.

San Jose, Calif. -- VeriFone Systems has acquired Lift Retail Marketing Technology Inc., Atlanta. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Lift Retail developed and markets the Lift Station, a network-connected digital marketing hub that integrates with point-of-sale systems (POS) in the convenience store and petroleum retailing market.

CINCINNATI — Kroger posted a loss in the quarter ended Jan. 28, attributing the loss to costs associated with consolidating its pension plan for union workers.

The grocer, which counts among its banners Kroger, Ralphs and Food 4 Less, lost $306.9 million in the quarter, compared with a profit of $278.8 million in the year-ago period.

Total sales in the quarter rose 7.7% to $21.4 billion. Excluding fuel, sales rose 5%. Same-store sales increased 4.9%.

Jacksonville, Fla. -- Shopping center owner Regency Centers said Thursday that it has launched construction on Southpark at Cinco Ranch, a 260,000-sq.-ft. neighborhood center anchored by Kroger, in Fort Bend County, Houston.

In partnership with Excel Commercial Real Estate, Regency Centers began construction of the center’s first phase on Feb. 20, with anchor openings scheduled for fourth quarter 2012.