Discount Store

Boulder, Col. -- Discount grocer Aldi ranks as the nation’s low-price grocery leader, according to a recent consumer survey conducted by Market Force Information.

Northbrook, Ill. -- Pine Tree Commercial Realty and New York City-based Silverpeak Real Estate Partners announced they have formed a joint venture with the goal of acquiring retail assets and portfolios across the United States.

According to Chris Westfahl, principal of Silverpeak, and Peter Borzak, co-founder and principal of Pine Tree, the new JV – Pine Tree Silverpeak Retail Partners LLC – plans to pursue transactions greater than $10 million and across the risk spectrum, ranging from raw land for development to stabilized core assets.

As part of our ongoing coverage of RECon, the annual retail real estate convention conducted by the International Council of Shopping Centers and held May 22-25 in Las Vegas, Chain Store Age talked with Andy Graiser, co-president of DJM Realty, a Gordon Brothers Group company, based in Melville, N.Y., about his key takeaways from RECon 2011.

Now that RECon 2011 has drawn to a close and we are all settling back into our daily work routines, what are your key takeaways from this year’s show?

New York City -- A $15 billion share buyback program, unveiled earlier in June, will allow Wal-Mart Stores’ founder Sam Walton’s descendants to see their stake in the chain edge up above 50%.

After Walton died in 1992, family members retained a stake of around 38% from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s. Starting in 2003, a series of big share buybacks began to push the family stake higher, to 43% in 2008 and now to 49%, according to the latest filings.

Sidney, Neb. -- Cabela’s will open a store in Tulalip, Wash., in 2012.

The 110,000-sq.-ft. store will be located within Quil Ceda Village on the Tulalip Tribes Indian reservation, about 30 miles north of Seattle. It will be the outdoor retailer’s second Washington store.

New York City -- Loehmann's Holdings announced  that Steven M. Newman has been appointed CEO.

Newman, who will also be a member of Loehmann's board of directors, will join the company in the second week of June. He assumes the CEO role from interim CEO Joe Melvin who will remain as COO of the company.

A lot of companies are content to conduct their annual meetings in a hotel ballroom near their headquarters, but not Target. This year the retailer and its senior executives are schlepping east to Pittsburgh where the company’s annual meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 8 at 1:30 p.m. at a store located about five miles east of downtown Pittsburgh at 6231 Penn Avenue. According to the company, “This location allows us to showcase our current general merchandise store design in the latter stages of construction prior to opening.”

It’s the time of year when retailers engage in the annual Dads and Grads promotional extravaganza, and Target is promoting the Apple iPad at $499 as a gift-giving solution.

The iPad appeared on a full-page ad in this week’s circular along with other Apple products such as the iPhone 4 and the iPod Touch.

Not that dads and grads wouldn’t want an iPad, and it never hurts to feature an item that shoppers can aspire to, but the iPad would appear to be out of the price range of most gift-givers, especially where Father’s Day is concerned.