Convenience Stores

New Orleans -- Covington, La.-based Stirling Properties said that Walgreens has opened a new store on Magazine Street in New Orleans.

MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu has completed the sale of its Albertsons, Acme, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s and Star Market stores and related Osco and Sav-on in-store pharmacies to AB Acquisition LLC, an affiliate of a Cerberus Capital Management-led investor consortium, in a stock deal valued at $3.3 billion, including $100 million in cash and $3.2 billion in debt assumption. 

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Co. is expanding its customer loyalty program to the supermarket channel and its Teavana stores as it looks to double membership from 4.5 million members at the end of October 2012 to approximately nine million members by the end of fiscal 2013.

Starbucks made the announcement at the company’s annual shareholders on Wednesday in Seattle. Also at the meeting, Starbucks investors rejected a shareholder proposal to prohibit the chain from making political contributions or forming a political action committee.

New York -- SkinnyPizza has signed an exclusive deal with Mogull Realty for multi-unit expansion into Manhattan. 

Dayton, Ohio -- Walmart holds on to the top spot in the annual ranking of the 50 most valuable U.S. retail brands from branding consultancy firm Interbrand. The discounter’s brand value is put at $141 billion (up 1% from the 2012 report.). By comparison, the second-highest ranked U.S. brand, Target Corp., has a value of $25 billion. The Home Depot is solid at number three, with a brand value of nearly $23 billion.

New York -- Supervalu on Thursday announced the completion of the sale of its Albertsons, Acme, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s and Star Market stores and related Osco and Sav-on in-store pharmacies to AB Acquisition LLC, an affiliate of a Cerberus Capital Management-led investor consortium. The stock deal is valued at $3.3 billion, including $100 million in cash and $3.2 billion in debt assumption.

HENDERSON, N.C.  — Alco has launched a branded smartphone app powered by Verge Connect. With Verge Connect, Alco customers can select the types of deals and coupons they receive, as well as filter by services offered at all 23 store locations across North and South Carolina. The ALCO branded app also features mapping and customer interaction capabilities via social media and direct feedback.

Salisbury, N.C. — Delhaize's Food Lion, Harveys and Reid's chains have earned their 12th consecutive Energy Star award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.