eCommerce

 

A new specialty grocer — Fresh Thyme Farmers Market — has big plans for the Midwest. With industry veteran Chris Sherrell at the helm (and an investment interest from Meijer Inc.), the start-up emphasizes natural and organic foods and produce, much of it locally sourced, at value prices in a convenient neighborhood-store format.

Walgreens reported October sales of $6.8 billion, an increase of 6.9% from the comparable year-ago period.  

Santa Clara, Calif. --The Irvine Company announced that Santa Clara’s first Whole Foods Market is coming to Santa Clara Square, a unique office campus and specialty retail center being built at Great America Parkway and the 101 freeway in the heart of Silicon Valley.

SearsRugs.com is the name of a new online marketplace that promises to make shopping for high end affordable rugs easy and fun.

The site launched recently and promises access to tens of thousands of the best handmade and machine-made rugs from around the world. SearsRugs.com, a licensee of Sears Holdings, said it is working with the retailer to provide an easy and fun shopping experience and indicated the relationship would give SearsRugs.com a substantial position in the online rug market.

By Kent Smith, Galleria RTS   Well-stocked shelves and falling sales is a dilemma faced by many retailers today. New technology advancements such as mobile discount apps are the latest threat to grocery retail sales. Many people simply complete their grocery shopping from the convenience of their own home.    

San Francisco -- Eight in ten Americans are likely to shop at local businesses during the upcoming holiday season, according to a 2014 nationwide Nielsen survey commissioned by Yelp. Nearly half (47%) plan to spend more than $100 at local businesses.  

Armonk, N.Y. –- IBM projects a strong holiday shopping season with online sales projected to increase 15% during the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday. The biggest increase in online sales is expected on Cyber Monday, predicted to grow 15.8%, followed closely by Thanksgiving with a projected increase of 15.6%.   

Richardson, Texas --Real estate development and investment firm KDC announced that Chef Kent Rathbun’s Jasper’s “Gourmet Backyard Cuisine” concept will join CityLine, the company’s 186-acre mixed-use project in Richardson, Texas. The restaurant is scheduled to open in summer 2015.