Supermarket/Grocery

Tucson, Ariz. — Lee & Associates Arizona has negotiated the $24.8 million sale of the River Center, a 117,563-sq.-ft. shopping center anchored by Whole Foods and Petco. Located on East River Road in the Catalina Foothills of northeastern Tucson, the center posted a cap rate of 5.5%.

Lee & Associates Arizona represented the buyer, Global Retail Investors LLC, a subsidiary of First Washington Realty of Bethesda, Md., and the seller, River Center Canada.

River Center was constructed in 1986 and remodeled in 1997 and 2013.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores has reportedly registered a new company called “Wal-Mart India Private Ltd.” in India, setting the stage for entering the Indian grocery market with a new local partner. According to the Free Press Journal, an Indian publication, Wal-Mart registered the company on Jan. 15, 2014 with the Indian Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Stater Bros. Markets, has promoted John Ciraulo to the position of VP of the meat division. He replaces Kevin Schubert, who will retire in March after 39 years of service.  

Ciraulo has been at Stater Bros. for 28 years and has progressed through a range of both retail and marketing positions. In his new position, he will oversee the marketing and retail operations of the company's meat and seafood divisions.

Ciraulo will report to EVP of marketing Dennis McIntyre.

Hershey is launching a new line of chocolate spreads, called Hershey's Spreads. The spreads will be available in three varieties: Chocolate, Chocolate with Almond and Chocolate with Hazelnut.

A 20,000-sq.-ft. store called TargetExpress is set to become the newest addition to the retailer’s portfolio of formats when it opens this July in downtown Minneapolis.

In an interview with The New York Times, Target EVP for property development John Griffith said Target signed a lease last week for a space on the ground floor of an apartment building called the Marshall which is under construction near the University of Minnesota campus. The store is scheduled to open July 27.

Minneapolis – Target plans to open a new store in Liberty Township, Ohio, in October 2014. The 130,000-sq.-ft. store will offer a selection of fresh produce, fresh packaged meat and pre-packaged baked goods, as well as a Starbucks and a Target Pharmacy.

Albertsons has confirmed that it plans to close 26 locations.

“This is part of our typical review cycle, and after reviewing store performance, we determined that these stores could not be positioned for future profitability, with the exception of the two stores in Acme that were closed for underperformance. The two Acme stores were closed because the leases are expiring,” the company said in a statement sent to sister publication Drug Store News.

New York -- Target Corp. has signed a lease to open a 20,000-sq.-ft. location in Minneapolis that will serve as a test of a new format called TargetExpress, the New York Times reported. The new unit, considerably smaller than CityTarget’s 80,000- to 125,000-sq.-ft. footprint, would be the chain’s smallest store to date.