Supermarket/Grocery

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway announced Thursday that the president of its Chicago-area Dominick’s Finer Foods division, Don Keprta, has resigned.

“Don has contributed significantly to the Dominick’s stores. His commitment and innovation helped the stores evolve to best serve the Chicagoland customers. We are fortunate that he has produced a team that is prepared to continue to build on our current momentum,” said chairman, president and CEO Steve Burd.

Annapolis, Md. — Jacksonville, Fla.-based Regency Centers said three new tenants have leased space at Village at Lee Airpark, located in Annapolis, Md.

Coldstone Creamery has leased 1,240 sq. ft., AT&T Authorized Dealer CellComm has leased 2,076 sq. ft., and Bay Tunes Guitars has leased 1,390 sq. ft.

All three retailers are slated to open fall 2011, bringing the first phase of Village at Lee Airpark to 98% occupancy.  

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — In an effort to spread awareness about the abundance of food products made in Michigan, and to help stimulate the state's economy, Michigan-based Spartan Stores announced that it has kicked off its expanded "Michigan's Best" campaign in its 97 D&W Fresh Market, Family Fare, Glen's Markets, and VG's, as well as 250 independent grocery stores. According to the company, more than 3,000 Michigan-made products will carry the eye-catching Michigan's Best label to help consumers quickly identify Michigan made products.

Keeping tabs on key personnel moves at Walmart’s home office in Bentonville is hard enough, but the situation is even more challenging in overseas markets due to an uneven and selective disclosure strategy.

WASHINGTON — Warm weather, lower gas costs and strong Father's Day promotions apparently put consumers in a spending mood in June, boosting retail sales for the 12th consecutive month and surpassing many analysts' expectations, according to the National Retail Federation.

Retail industry sales — which exclude automobiles, gas stations and restaurants — in June increased 0.3% seasonally adjusted from May, and 5.5% unadjusted year-over-year, according to NRF.

Washington, D.C. — A report released Thursday by the U.S. Commerce Department showed that retail sales in June experienced a slight uptick of 0.1%. This comes on the heels of a 0.1% dip in May, the first time in 11 months that sales fell. 

The June resurgence was attributed to a rise in auto sales and increased spending in big chain stores. Sales excluding gasoline rebounded 0.3% after declining 0.2% in May.

Sales at general merchandise stores, which include Wal-Mart and Target, increased 0.4% on warmer weather and aggressive discounting. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — Members of the Retail Industry Leaders Association on Wednesday arrived in Joplin, Mo., to help clean up the Midwest city that was hard-hit in May by a category F-5 tornado.

Shanghai — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced it has appointed its current Canada finance chief Sean Clarke as COO over the company’s China operations, after former CFO Roland Lawrence and COO Rob Cissell left the company in May.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Clarke will be joined by Steve Smith, named chief marketing officer in China. Smith was senior VP at Delhaize Group.