Discount Store

While Amazon Prime Day got off to a bit of a rocky start, performance appears to be improving as the day goes on.   According to analysis from Clavis Insight, consumer electronics is the most popular category among Prime Day “spotlight deals,” promoted at the top of the page as especially in-demand items. As of 10 a.m. ET Amazon had run 21 spotlight deals, almost half of which were consumer electronics. At the same on the 2015 edition of Prime Day, Amazon had only posted 10 spotlight deals.  

DLC Management announced several promotions within its national leasing team, chief among them the naming of Chris Ressa as senior VP of the department.   A one-time Sherwin Williams real estate rep, Ressa joined DLC as a leasing rep in 2007 and rose through the ranks to become VP of the Midwest region and senior VP of the Northeast/Midwest region before being put in charge of nationwide leasing for this major owner and operator of open-air shopping centers.  

After two years of benefitting from gasoline price tailwinds, still-stressed consumers will generate only a sluggish 3.3% year-over-year increase in this year’s back-to-school sales, according to Customer Growth Partners’ 14th Annual BTS Forecast.    Total BTS sales for the season will reach $540 billion — a new record, but the lackluster 3.3% growth represents a marked slowdown from the 4%-plus BTS growth seen in both 2014 and 2015, when sales were boosted by declining gasoline prices.  

Specialty pet retailer Pet Supplies Plus is entering three new states as part of an aggressive 2016 expansion plan.   The chain is entering California, Colorado and Oklahoma, as well as furthering its expansion in the states of New Jersey, Texas, Missouri, Iowa and Georgia. In addition, Pet Supplies Plus recently signed a deal to open 10 new stores in Kansas City, and is on target to open approximately 60 new stores by the end of the year.  

Walmart was offering its own July online savings event before Amazon Prime Day was officially announced, and now the discount giant is sweetening its deal.   Walmart is offering all customers free shipping with no minimum purchase on its e-commerce site from Monday, July 11 – Friday, July 15. This builds on a previously announced online promotion that offers a free 30-day trial of the retailer’s ShippingPass program, which provides consumers unlimited, two-day free shipping for a year.  

Walmart is not the only big-name retailer preparing a July 12 online sales extravaganza.   Toys “R” Us is launching an online discount event so simple even a child could take advantage of it. All day Tuesday, July 12, shoppers on the Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us e-commerce sites can receive 15% off regular-priced items. There will also be more than 50,000 toys and baby products on sale sitewide.  

A new player has entered the value grocery segment.    LogicLane, a start-up company that provides discount wholesale grocery supply chain services and a wholesale grocery e-commerce marketplace for businesses, has entered the retail arena, opening a supermarket in Uniontown, Pennsylvania.       Called Mill Street Merchants, the store is designed to extend the extreme value deals previously only available to national businesses on the LogicLane website to local businesses and consumers.

Nordstrom remains in expansion mode with its Nordstrom Rack division.   A 26,000-sq. ft. Nordstrom Rack is scheduled to open in spring 2017, at CityPlace, a 100-acre, master-planned development in Woodbury, Minn.   The property is owned and managed by Elion Partners, a Florida-based real estate investment firm.