Mass Merchant

Dollar General isn’t boasting when it calls itself one of America’s fastest-growing retailers.    The extreme-value discounter will open 1,000 stores and two distribution centers in 2017, resulting    In the creation of approximately 10,000 new jobs. The announcement comes as Dollar General is testing a new, smaller-store format under a new banner.   

Target Corp. leads other retailers when it comes to reaching and attracting qualified talent.    The discounter ranked the highest (at No. 26) among Fortune 500 retail-ers for employment branding in a study by global talent solutions com-pany WilsonHCG. Target was followed by Publix (No. 42), The Home Depot (No. 50), Walmart (No. 64), Nordstrom (No. 77) and Whole Foods Market (No. 115). No retailer cracked the top 10, which was led by Gen-eral Electric, Johnson & Johnson and AT&T.       

Women’s plus-size retailer Torrid will open locations in five Cafaro Malls: Eastwood Mall (Niles, Ohio); Governor’s Square Mall (Clarksville, Tennessee); Huntington Mall (Barboursville, West Virginia), Millcreek Mall (Erie, Pennsylvania); and Spotsylvania Towne Centre (Fredericksburg, Virginia).     The 3,500-sq.-ft. stores are all expected to be up and running by June. Torrid, founded in 2001, operates more than 400 locations across 36 states.  

Whole Foods Market on Wednesday reported a disappointing first quarter and also lowered full-year sales and earnings guidance.    Net income was $95 million for the quarter ended Jan. 15. The company earned an adjusted 39 cents a share during the quarter, in line with estimates.   Total sales in the quarter increased 1.9% to $4.9 billion, less than the Street expected.    

"It makes me feel really, really sad. I hate to even go up that way. Sometimes I go up that way because I go to the movie theater and I got to ride by it, and it's just heartbreaking, and to see the mall gone,” Owings Mills, Maryland resident Glenn Watlingon told WMAR-TV about the demolition of the Owings Mills Mall.   

Not only was the 2017 Super Bowl a game for the record books, it also drove shoppers to their favorite e-grocers to prep for the big game.   As time-pressed Americans football fans shopped with online grocers for game day necessities, they spent more than $150.18 per order — just a few cents more than the average cart size of all goods purchased on Black Friday, which was $149.68.  

Wal-Mart Stores keeps upping its investment in JD.com.   The discounter has increased its stake in the Chinese online company to 12.1%, (worth about $4.87 billion), from the 10.8% stake it had in October, and the 5.9% stake it had in June of last year, according to a report by Business Insider.  

Off-price giant TJX Cos. stands to gain traffic from the planned shutterings of select Macy’s and Kmart stores this year.    A study by Foursquare indicates that T.J. Maxx will gain traffic from Kmart store closings, while Marshalls will benefit from Macy’s closings, reported Boston Business Journal. Both banners are owned by TJX Cos.