Convenience Stores

Dallas -- Venture Commercial Real Estate announced the completion of several transactions that will bring new Carl’s Jr. restaurants to Garland, Balch Springs, Lufkin, and Beaumont, Texas, by the end of the year.

With the addition of these four locations owned and operated by RWJP Star Enterprises, the total number of Carl’s Jr. restaurants in Texas will be 48.

Walmart is among a group of retailers who further aligned themselves with a key Obama administration initiative this week by committing to open more than 1,500 stores in urban and rural markets defined as food deserts. The initiative is part of the Obama administration’s Let’s Move! campaign designed to address the nation’s weight problem by improving access to fresh foods.

Here are the facts:

• Walmart will open between 275 and 300 stores in food deserts by 2016.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Fresh & Easy is adding a dozen dishes to its gourmet line.

The line of restaurant-quality products, launched in February, now will include 12 new items, including pizza, Hawaiian pork and more, in addition to "Gourmet for Two" meals, which provide customers with a restaurant-quality meal for two for under $10.

Salisbury, N.C. -- Discount grocer Bottom Dollar Food plans to enter the greater Pittsburgh, and Youngstown, Ohio, markets, starting with 14 locations.

Most of the locations are expected to open in early 2012.
 

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens is positioning itself to be the largest retail host of electric vehicle charging stations, the drug store chain announced Thursday.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Safeway reported Thursday that net income for the second quarter rose to $145.8 million from $141.3 million in the year-ago period, helped by rising prices and gas sales.

Total sales increased 7.1% to $10.2 billion from $9.5 billion.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens said Thursday it plans to offer electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at approximately 800 locations across the country by the end of 2011, which would make the drugstore chain the country’s largest retail host.

The charging stations will feature either a high-speed direct current charger that can add 30 miles of range in as little as 10 minutes of charging time, or a Level 2 charger that can add up to 25 miles of range per hour of charge.

By Adam Siegel, VP sustainability, RILA

WASHINGTON — First Lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday afternoon will be joined by corporate chiefs from Walmart, Walgreens and Supervalu and smaller regional market chains as she announces a new initiative to support the Let's Move! campaign, according to a Monday posting on the blog site Obama Foodorama.

New York City -- First Lady Michelle Obama and the Partnership for a Healthier America on Wednesday announced that that several national and regional food retailers have pledged to open or expand stores in low-income markets where finding nutritious food options can be difficult. The chains participating in the partnership include Walmart, Walgreens and Supervalu, which, in total, agreed to open or expand hundreds of locations as part of the effort to eliminate what the Department of Agriculture calls “food deserts” throughout the country.