Supermarket/Grocery

A heat wave washed over Las Vegas just in time for the International Council of Shopping Centers’ annual RECon event May 20-23 — and the mood inside the Las Vegas Convention Center was just as elevated.

“I am very bullish on this year’s RECon,” said Andy Graiser, co-president of A&G Realty Partners, Melville, N.Y. “Growth is becoming evident in most all categories, and it’s smart growth.”

You can learn a lot by monitoring consumer conversations in social media. It can predict political elections, the Oscars and even the next reality show winner. If you are a CPG marketer, social media can also be a real-time predictor of your new product’s success.

MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu's Essential Everyday private-label line will include 2,700 products across more than 100 categories by 2013.

Essential Everyday products, which are available at approximately 3,300 stores nationwide — including Supervalu's family of stores — currently features more than 1,200 items across more than 40 categories. The expanded Essential Everyday brand lineup was introduced in New York last week by chef and cookbook author Antonia Lofaso.

Unilever president of customer development, Joe Cavaliere, is the newest addition to the board of the Retail Industry Leaders Association.

The trade group’s board held its semi-annual meeting earlier this week and elected Cavaliere and re-elected PetSmart president and CEO Bob Moran and IBM’s general manager for the retail industry Karen Lowe.

New York -- Starbucks Coffee Co. keeps branching out. After opening its first juice store (Evolution Fresh), the company plans to open a tea store under its Tazo brand in Seattle this fall, Bloomberg reported.

The shop will sell more than 80 varieties of loose-leaf tea, which will be priced by the ounce, the report said. It will also offer pastries, baked goods and packaged chocolates.
 

NEW YORK and MONTVALE, N.J. — Grocer A&P has inked an exclusive partnership with BrightFarms, becoming the only retailer of BrightFarms’ Brooklyn-grown produce from the world’s largest rooftop farm.

Cranston, R.I. -- Boston-based The Wilder Cos. said that Pottery Barn is opening a new store in Garden City Center, as part of the first phase of a plan to expand, reconfigure and redevelop the historic shopping center.  

Pottery Barn will be the larger of two stores located in a new 20,000-sq.-ft. building, and is expected to open at Garden City Center in February 2013.

SUNBURY, Pa. — Weis Markets has raised $191,000 in donations and pet supplies for 94 local animal shelters and rescue organizations in its five state market area through its Paws for Pets program, nearly double the total raised in 2011.

The four-week program ran through Memorial Day weekend in the Company's stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia.  During this time, 64 stores also hosted pet adopt-a-thon events with local pet organizations.