Large Chains

Whole Foods Market is upping its game.   In the face of growing competition, the supermarket chain has been adding restaurants, bars and tap rooms to its stores, reported The Orange County Register.    In select locations in California, Whole Foods is adding in-store outposts of a popular fast-casual eatery, Mendocino Farms, to its stores.   

The Butler North component of Butler Enterprises’ massive retail complex in Gainesville, Florida, brings itself close to 100% occupancy with next week’s opening of Total Wine & More.   The 20,000-sq.-ft store is the latest in a series of new store openings at the center. Also debuting there over the past four months were Walmart Supercenter, Aldi, Marshalls, Payless Shoe Source, and Dollar Tree.  

Shoppers can skip the line and checkout on their phones at a new supermarket in San Luis Obispo     At California Fresh Market, shoppers can download an app that lets them scan items' barcodes to add to their purchase. Shoppers can keep track of their running total while they browse and see specials and other information.     

A longtime San Francisco grocery banner will soon disappear.    Safeway will acquire Andronico’s Community Markets, which operates five Andronico’s stores in the San Francisco Bay Area.     

Grocery retailer Winn-Dixie opened the second ever location of its next-generation store concept, in the Hyde Park section of Tampa, Florida.  

On the heels of the announcement that Walter Robb would step down as co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, more changes may be in store the grocery chain.   One of Whole Food’s 10 largest shareholders has met with potential activist investors explore making major changes to the retail, including replacing management and exploring a sale of the company, Bloomberg reported.

Raley’s will unveil a new natural foods grocery store concept in spring 2017.   Called Market 5-ONE-5, the new format will debut in downtown Sacramento, Calif., and is described as a farmer’s market concept, with fresh products delivered daily. It will be operated independently of Raley’s, according to The Sacramento Bee. A press release about the new store quoted Raley’s CEO Michael Teel, but identified him only as “owner.”  

Phillips Edison, a major player in grocery-anchored centers, has acquired the Mission Hills Shopping Center in Naples, Florida, according to The Real Deal, a south Florida real estate site.     The 11-year-old, 85,078-sq.-ft. center anchored by Winn-Dixie and Anytime Fitness is 97% leased, according to the seller, The Hampshire Companies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.   More than 3,000 homes are under construction within two miles of the Mission Hills center, according to Hampshire.

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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.”  

Harris Teeter is no stranger to home delivery, but now more North Carolina-based shoppers can get their orders within an hour.   The grocer, a subsidiary of Kroger Co., is expanding its partnership with app-based grocery delivery service Shipt to get groceries into the hands of shoppers throughout the Charlotte metro area. The program, which was launched last year, was initially limited to the state’s Research Triangle region. This expansion extends the service to more than 50 Harris Teeter stores in the Charlotte area.