Convenience Stores

New York -- Following Wednesday reports that large retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores, Target Corp. and 7-Eleven are developing a mobile payment network, Wal-Mart confirmed on Thursday that a new company has been formed by Wal-Mart and other leading U.S. retailers to develop and deploy an m-commerce solution much like the Starbucks Square initiative that was announced last week.

Walmart is among a group of pharmacy retailers working on an educational initiative with the U.S. department of Health and Human Services.

As part of a partnership with HHS, Walmart and Sam’s Club are providing information online to help educate Medicare recipients about the range of tax-payer funded “free” services available to them under the Affordable Care Act.

Don’t let the grocery sector shake-ups fool you.

While there are individual failures, the category as a whole continues to find favor among developers that place a premium on having a traffic magnet in their shopping centers.

Dallas -- SRS Real Estate Partners announced that FreeBirds World Burrito has selected seven new locations slated to open in Central California later this year.
 
The seven sites in California are located in Sacramento, Tracy, Fresno, Clovis, Turlock, and two sites in Modesto, and all were acquired from Qdoba franchisee 4G Management. All locations will be converted to company owned and operated units and range from 2,000 sq. ft. to 4,000 sq. ft.
 

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — If Staples is a proxy for the health of the U.S. economy don’t look for conditions to improve any time soon.

The Annual State of the Industry Report is the centerpiece of this issue of Chain Store Age, and it’s a great read. It’s also very timely.

New York -- A Wednesday report by the Wall Street Journal said that big retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores, Target Corp. and 7-Eleven are planning to develop a mobile payment network much like the Starbucks Square initiative that was announced last week.

Indianapolis -- The Finish Line announced Wednesday it has named Greg Beidler as senior VP store operations for the chain.

Beidler was previously regional operations director for Sam’s Club/Wal-Mart Corp., and has served in management roles for GameStop, Brown Shoe, Circuit City and Athlete’s Foot.