Mass Merchant

New York -- By 2023, online grocery sales are projected to range between $80 billion and $123 billion according to statistics released by Steve Bishop of Brick Meets Click (BMC) in a presentation at The Food Institute webinar "Get In On The Growth of Online Shopping." If realized, at the middle of those two projections online grocery sales would exceed today's sales of the nation's largest supermarket chain, Kroger.

How well many retailers perform this holiday season in store and online will be determined by the shopping preferences of a demographic group that doesn’t typically get a lot of love from marketers.

Elmsford, N.Y. - Party City has promoted Gregg A. Melnick to the position of president of Party City Holdings, effective immediately. Party City Holdings is the parent company of the Party City Retail Group and Amscan Inc., among other entities.  

Most recently, Melnick was the president of the Party City Retail Group. Melnick will partner with all of the key department heads across both the retail and wholesale divisions to provide the leadership to strengthen the brands and create opportunities for greater collaboration.

Camp Hill, Pa. - For the four weeks ended Sept. 27, 2014, same store sales increased 5.1% from the prior-year period at Rite Aid Corp. September front-end same store sales increased 2.3%, while pharmacy same-store sales increased 6.3% and same-store prescription count grew 4.4%.

Total drugstore sales for the four-week period increased 4.5% to $2.02 billion, compared to $1.935 billion.

Fort Worth, Texas -- Trademark Property Co., the Fort Worth-based retail and mixed-use development, investment, and third-party services firm, announced that Kara Rafferty has joined the firm as director of leasing. An 18-year industry veteran, Rafferty will focus on Trademark’s leasing efforts throughout Texas.

As part of its agenda to boost liquidity ahead of the highly contested holiday shopping season, Sears Holdings plans to sell most of its 51% stake in its struggling Sears Canada division to shareholders — a move that stands to raise as much as $380 million by November.

Dublin, Calif. - Ross Dress for Less will open two new stores in Hawaii on Oct. 10. The stores are located in Kukui Grove Center in Lihue, on the island of Kauai, and the Kahala Mall in Honolulu, on the island of Oahu.  

These new openings are part of the retailer’s 2014 expansion program, totaling approximately 75 new locations during the year.

Maplewood, Minn. -- Mid-America Real Estate Corporation’s investment sales team recently brokered the sale of Birch Run Station in Maplewood, Minnesota. The 278,347-sq.-ft. center was purchased by Greenwood Village, Colorado-based GDA Real Estate for $27.35 million.

Birch Run Station is located at the northwest quadrant of Beam Avenue and Southlawn Drive adjacent to the Maplewood Mall. The center is anchored by Marshalls, Jo-Ann Stores, Burlington Coat Factory, Herberger’s, and Dollar Tree.