Mass Merchant

Raley’s, the Northern Californian grocery chain, got one step closer to its vision to build a neighborhood “hub” in Sacramento.   According to a report in the Sacramento Bee, the city’s Planning and Design Commission voted 12-to-1 to approve the chain’s plans for “The Park,” a 108,000-sq.-ft. open-air center ringed by a metal canopy and featuring large store windows and shrub-filled “green screens.”  

Ed Burstell will join Hudson’s Bay Company’s leadership team as head of partnerships.    In this newly created position, Burstell will develop and lead partnerships to drive innovative and exclusive offerings across all of HBC’s banners globally — a move that will help differentiate the company across the marketplace. Burstell, who comes aboard on Dec. 5, will report to the company’s CEO Jerry Storch.  

Walmart has made another big e-commerce investment in China.   On the heels of launching three major e-commerce initiatives in China, Walmart will invest $50 million in New Dada — China’s largest local on-demand logistics and grocery online-to-offline (O2O) e-commerce platform.  

Starbucks isn’t the only company that has big plans for China.   New Look, the British apparel retailer, is looking to expand to 500 stores over the next three years in China, Fortune reported. It currently operates a total of 850 stores globally, with 95 locations in China.  

The use of cash remains strong among in-store shoppers.   That’s according to a new survey by Cardtronics, in which 89% of consumers report using cash in the past six months to pay for merchandise in a physical store.    Cash was followed by debit cards, used by 74% of consumers in the last six months, and credit cards, used by 66% of consumers. Eighteen percent of consumers reported using store mobile apps to pay for something in the last six months, and 17% used a mobile wallet. 

Gift cards certainly have not lost their luster among holiday gift givers and recipients — or Albertsons.   Well aware that three in four consumers (73%) planned to give at least one gift card last holiday season, according to the Retail Gift Card Association (RGCA) reported, the grocery chain is ready to attract these shoppers again this year. In effort to grab these customers’ wallet share, Albertsons will add the Five Back Visa gift card to its gift card portfolio.  

Until this week, Rouse Properties’ northeastern-most retail possession was The Centre at Salisbury in Maryland. But its purchase this week of an 115,000-sq.-ft. center outside of Hartford, Connecticut, gives the developer a footprint planted firmly in New England.  

Two online brands and an iconic American designer top a list of retail brands that command the most loyalty among consumers.   Amazon, Zappos and Ralph Lauren were the top loyalty leaders in the retail segment in the 20th annual  Brand Keys Loyalty Leaders List.  The ranking, which is 100% consumer-driven, examined 72 categories and 635 brands. Rounding out the top five in retail: Sephora and Trader Joe’s.