Supermarket/Grocery

Food Emporium raises hopes of New Jersey center
In 2013, when Plainsboro (New Jersey) Plaza lost its grocery anchor, prospects appeared bleak for the once-thriving center. A new town center concept erected across the street in this affluent locale bordering Princeton had siphoned off shoppers in a big way. According to a report in the Trenton Times, two-thirds of the Plaza emptied while Plainsboro Village Center was 96% leased.
Regency redevelops South Florida center
Regency Centers has demolished most of its Aventura Shopping Center in the South Florida town of the same name, and is underway with a near-total redevelopment. The Publix grocery anchor at the center south of Hollywood is the only structure that remains, though the 35,500-sq.-ft. space will be expanded to 49,000 sq. ft. with parking below the store.

Supermarket chain down under upgrading checkout experience

Coles Supermarkets, one of Australia’s largest supermarket retailers, is deploying a new solution to improve customer checkout experiences and operational efficiency. The retailer is adding NCR’s RealPOS XR8 as its future POS terminals. Coles also plans to upgrade more than 4,000 POS units in the next financial year.
NewMark Merrill completes Colorado ‘lifestyle center’

The first phase of NewMark Merrill’s redevelopment of the Village at the Peaks in Longmont, Colorado — a 500,000-sq.-ft. lifestyle center — has been completed. The company purchased the 50% vacant Twin Peaks Mall in 2012 for $8.5 million and has since pumped $90 million into construction of the new project in a private partnership with the city of Longmont that included a $32 million public bond.
Report: Walmart testing new employee scheduling system

Walmart is testing a new scheduling system designed to improve peak-hour scheduling and gives its employees more certainty about their job schedules, the Associated Press reported. The system was rolled out to the chain’s 650 Neighborhood Market stores in July, and could eventually be deployed across Walmart’s entire U.S. store network, according to the report.
RediClinic names CFO

RediClinic convenient care clinics has named a seasoned healthcare executive as its new CFO. Jeff Fields is joining Health Dialog, provider of population health management services, and RediClinic as CFO. He will be responsible for the fiscal management of both RediClinic and Health Dialog as they continue to grow in the total population management services and retail health care markets.
Fred’s sales take a hit in July

Fred's Inc. saw July sales drop 7% to $154 million, compared to $165.6 million in the same period last year. Comparable store sales for the month declined 4.6%, compared with an increase of 0.7% in the year-earlier period. Fred's total sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2016 decreased 3.4% to $527.7 million, from $546.1 million for the same period last year. On a comparable store basis, second quarter sales decreased 2% versus an increase of 0.9% for the year-earlier period.
Sprouts Farmers beats Q2 profit forecasts

Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. reported second-quarter net income of $37.2 million, which topped Wall Street expectations. The natural and organic food retailer posted revenue of $1.03 billion in the period, narrowly missing Street forecasts of $1.04 billion, but topping last year’s sales by 14%. Same-store sales grew 4.1% in the period.
Costco's July comps slide 2%

Costco's comparable sales for the month of July declined 2%, with a 3% decrease in U.S. a 3% rise in Canada and other decreases internationally.
Weis Markets begins aggressive expansion into Baltimore market

Weis Markets on Thursday announced it has converted and reopened five former Mars Super Markets as Weis Markets stores located in Baltimore County, including two locations in Dundalk and individual units in Essex, Arbutus and Carney.
Publix reports a 2.1% sales boost in Q2

Publix’s sales for second quarter 2016 were $8.1 billion, a 2.1% increase from last year’s $8 billion. Comparable-store sales for second quarter 2016 increased 1.1%. The company says sales were negatively impacted by 1.2% due to the effect of the Easter holiday being in the first quarter in 2016. In 2015, the effect of the Easter holiday was in the second quarter.
Supervalu installs new tech platform

Expressing a desire to deliver more professional services and back-end support to its wholesale customers, Supervalu announced that it would install Oracle Cloud as its new technology platform. "The Oracle Cloud provides us with a more robust infrastructure and a comprehensive solution that we believe will help us drive increased efficiencies, speed decision-making, and enhance the overall customer experience,” said executive VP and CIO Randy Burdick.