Supermarket/Grocery

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.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens’ same-store stores increased 7.9% in September. Total sales increased 9.4%, to $6.5 billion compared to the same month in fiscal 2014, the company reported Friday.

Comparable store front-end sales rose 1.7%, while comparable store pharmacy sales rose 11.3%.

Walgreens opened nine stores during September, including four relocations, and closed four.

Toronto -- Slate Retail REIT announced that it has entered into a binding agreement to purchase Stonefield Square, a 90,991-sq.-ft. grocery-anchored shopping center located in Louisville, Kentucky, for $12.6 million ($138 per square foot). The property is anchored by The Fresh Market.

The acquisition is expected to be completed in fourth quarter 2014 and remains subject to customary closing conditions.

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.

San Bernardino, Calif. -- Stater Bros. Markets received the “Best Emissions Rate” Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) GreenChill Partnership for having the lowest corporate-wide refrigerant emissions rate of all the GreenChill partners in 2013. There are approximately 8,000 GreenChill partner stores throughout the nation.
 

The world’s retail capital is turning it up yet another degree, as a hot landmark project geared toward commuters launches development.

Turnstyle is the reinvention of a span of underground corridor that runs from West 57th St. to the Columbus Circle/59th St. subway. The new iteration, slated for a fall 2015 opening, will feature 26,000 sq. ft. of space divided among more than 30 retail shops and restaurants, ranging from trendy kiosks to 1,000-sq.-ft. storefronts and offering everything from jewelry and cosmetics to grab-and-go food and smart gathering places.

Denver - Location marketing provider Placeable is predicting that online sales will grow by more than 15% during the 2014 holiday season, compared to the same period the prior year, more than tripling the anticipated 4%-5% growth rate for overall holiday sales. However, Placeable expects more than 90% of holiday sales to take place in brick-and-mortar stores, with 58% of consumers shopping at a national retailer they normally don’t visit.

Other Placeable predictions for the 2014 holiday season include:

New York -- Most shoppers now actually like to grocery shop, according to research from Acosta Sales & Marketing, full-service sales and marketing agency. The company’s “The Why? Behind the Buy” report finds that 54% of total U.S. shoppers say they enjoy grocery shopping, up from 41% in 2011.