Mass Merchant

SAN FRANCISCO and DULUTH, Minn. — DemandTec, an optimization network for retailers and consumer products companies, announced that it has partnered with the Labovitz School of Business & Economics at the University of Minnesota Duluth to support the university's new program training students with skills for careers in the retail and consumer products industries.

New York City -- Rising fuel costs, higher commodity prices and increasing international market demand for food are pushing food inflation higher and higher, according to the Food Marketing Institute’s U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends report released Tuesday.

Seattle -- Nordstrom announced plans to relocate its Nordstrom Rack at The Mall at The Source to the Gallery at Westbury Plaza. The new store will be located approximately a quarter of a mile from the existing location and is expected to open in fall 2012.

ISSAQUAH, Washington — Wedding season is here, and future brides who want to score a high-fashion gown, without spending their entire wedding budget, may soon be flocking to Costco. Beginning this month and continuing through August, select Costco stores throughout the country will hold special four-day trunk shows featuring the wedding gowns of designer Kirstie Kelly.

Target’s Redcard may become an increasingly more important factor in the retailer maintaining low price leadership.

Customer Growth Partners’ price comparison survey for Target and Walmart revealed that on a comparable 55-item basket of items found at Walmart Supercenters and Target P-Fresh stotes or Target Superstores, Walmart had reasserted price leadership over Target by almost 3%--prior to Target’s Redcard 5% discount. For the first three months of the year Target had 0.6% advantage (prior to the Redcard discount) over Walmart. 

As thousands of retailers and shopping center owners and managers prepare to descend on Las Vegas for the International Council of Shopping Centers’ 2012 RECon conference May 22-25, we thought it appropriate to talk with a retail real estate expert about not only the state of the industry, but also what to expect from this year’s show. 

Senior editor Katherine Field talked with Mitchel S. Friedman, senior VP of New York City-based RCS Real Estate Advisors, to gain his insights about the show and the industry as a whole.

Although revenues at Target last year increased 3.1% to nearly $67.4 billion, other big companies grew faster, and Target slipped three spots to 33rd from 30th in Fortune’s annual ranking of America’s 500 largest companies.

New York City -- Massmart Holdings Ltd. promised to add jobs if Wal-Mart Stores is allowed to buy a controlling stake in the South African wholesaler, CEO Grant Pattison. His remarks were made on Monday at a tribunal in Pretoria, South Africa, that will determine whether Wal-Mart will be able to go through with the deal.