Convenience Stores

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — Walmart Canada is stepping up its presence in the country this month with the opening of the most stores in the company's history.

By the end of October, the company will complete 30 real estate projects. They include two supercenter conversions and 28 new stores, which were formerly Zellers stores. Of the 28 Zellers locations, 10 will be supercentres and 18 will be discount stores. The 30 stores employ more than 3,000 associates and represent an addition of nearly 2.4 million square feet of retail space.

New York -- Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Retail Group said it has secured a long-term lease for Chill Berry Frozen Yogurt at 2121 Frederick Douglass Blvd., between 114th and 115th Streets in New York City.

It is the second of two Harlem-based stores for the owners, with the first on Lenox Avenue and 131st Street.

Neighboring businesses along the corridor include Harlem Tavern, the 5 and Diamond, Jado Sushi, Posh Paws, Mod Squad Cycles and Best Yet Market.

Rogers, Ark. -- In its annual meeting with analysts on Wednesday, Wal-Mart Stores U.S. president Bill Simon said the retailer would accelerate small-store growth to compete with dollar stores and drug stores, and announced plans to have 500 Neighborhood Market stores and 12 Express stores by fiscal 2016.

“This gives us the opportunity to build more stores for less money," Simon said. Wal-Mart currently operates 217 Neighborhood Markets and 10 Express stores.

TOPEKA, Kan. — Payless Holdings has named Paul Jones as CEO. Jones was most recently chairman, president and CEO of Shopko Stores, a $2.7 billion mass merchandiser providing quality products and health services at great values in small to mid-sized markets. Jones will be based in Topeka and will join the company in an official capacity on Oct. 22.
 

PepsiCo is rolling out its Pepsi Interactive Vending machine pilot program -- allowing consumers to buy, gift and play games with PepsiCo beverages – at five General Growth Properties’ malls.

Columbiana Centre (Columbia, S.C.), Clackamas Town Center (Happy Valley, Ore.), Oglethorpe Mall (Savannah, Ga.), Oakwood Mall (Eau Claire, Wis.) and Park City Center (Lancaster, Pa.) will feature the interactive vending equipment with full touch-screen technology.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart plans a modest acceleration of its small format stores in the coming years as investors were assured Wednesday morning that financial returns are now comparable with the company’s large supercenters.

Commerce, Calif. -- Discounter 99 Cents Only said Tuesday it has launched an official search for a retail property on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif., to open its first store on the iconic street.

"We are confident a Rodeo Drive store will be successful because our stores do well in affluent areas,” said Eric Schiffer, CEO. “In fact, our highest sales volume store is located only a few blocks from Beverly Hills on Wilshire Boulevard.”

Of its 303 extreme-value stores in the U.S., 222 are in California.

Seattle -- Nordstrom Inc. said Tuesday that it has opened a second Cleveland Nordstrom Rack store – at the Promenade in Crocker Park, owned and managed by Stark Enterprises.

The 34,000-sq.-ft. store is slated to open fall 2013 in a former Border’s space at the lifestyle shopping center located in Westlake, Ohio, and tenanted by Bed Bath & Beyond, H&M, Trader Joe’s, Victoria’s Secret and The Cheesecake Factory.