Supermarket/Grocery

Irvine, Calif. -- TNP Strategic Retail Trust said Friday it has acquired Bloomingdale Hills, a 13-acre retail center in the Tampa, Fla., suburb of Riverview.

TNP is a public non-traded REIT that invests in grocery and drugstore anchored, multi-tenant necessity retail properties and other real estate-related assets.

Bloomingdale Hills comprises about 78,500 sq. ft. of rentable space, as well as a fully improved, undeveloped land parcel.

The center is anchored by Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market and is 100% leased.
 

Issaquah, Wash. -- Costco Wholesale Corp.’s international executive VP James Murphy said Thursday that the warehouse club operator is pursuing a European expansion program.

Murphy told Bloomberg that Costco is “interested in investing in the obvious four -- Germany, Italy, France and Spain.” The company hasn’t decided which country would debut first and will probably open a store in the region “in the next couple of years,” Murphy said in the Bloomberg interview.

While the European Union continued to meltdown and Moody’s was downgrading major U.S. financial institutions, 800 representatives from leading retailer and CPG companies were gathered in Instanbul for the Consumer Goods Forum annual Global Summit.

Jacksonville, Fla. — A new report from Acosta Sales and Marketing reveals that consumers at all income levels consider price before making a purchase, showing that economic concerns affect everyone.

Economic uncertainty throughout Europe and the United States and political instability in the Middle East are putting an increased spotlight on developing markets, which are forging full-speed ahead and show no signs of slowing down, according to the 11th annual Global Retail Development Index by consulting firm A.T. Kearney.

Last week a study showed living near Walmart was good for property values while this week we learn that it will also make you fat.

By Andrew Wren, Wren Solutions

It’s no secret in the loss prevention industry that sweethearting, the practice of giving customers unauthorized discounts or free merchandise or services, is a major source of loss in retail. In fact, it has long been recognized as the most common type of employee theft and the largest contributor to loss in the industry. It is also a unique challenge to loss prevention efforts. Unlike other forms of employee theft, both the customer and the employee are aware of sweethearting.

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.