Supermarket/Grocery

Boise, Idaho - WinCo Foods LLC will begin shipping from its newest distribution center in Phoenix, on May 14. The center, which includes more than 900,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space, will initially service 19 WinCo Foods stores located in Arizona, Southern Nevada and Southern California.  

Discount retailing has undergone a major transformation in recent years

Toward the end of 2008, it became painstakingly obvious to retailers that impulse spending was out and frugal saving was in. Faced with an imminent recession, staggering job loss and quickly depleting discretionary and savings accounts, consumers began to shift their focus to value. The impact of such a large-scale economic event and an abrupt consumer focus shift would appear to alter the fundamental realities of retail.

The increased severity and frequency of storms and other catastrophic events has put a white-hot spotlight on disaster planning. No retailer can afford to be unprepared. Three disaster readiness experts shared insights on how retailers can best avoid catastrophe before it happens during the SPECS workshop session, “Disaster Zone — Before the Storm.”

Moderator Gregg Beatty, president of embc, kicked things off by reviewing the “three Rs” of dealing with a disaster — readiness, response and recovery.

Canada no longer top priority for U.S. retail expansion

During the past few years, U.S. and international retailers have flocked to Canada in the hunt for top-line growth as store portfolios matured in the United States and there were fewer opportunities for expansion. In fact, many U.S. retailers considered Canada to be an extension of their domestic businesses due to the similarities and close proximity to their home offices.

San Francisco - Revel Systems, has introduced a new hardware and software product bundle aimed at providing technology features for the visually impaired. The inherent touch-screen nature of iPad POS terminals are without tactile qualities, making them not fully accessible and independently usable by the visually impaired.

Sweaty Betty

There’s a new high-end fashion activewear brand in town, and this one speaks with a British accent. London-based Sweaty Betty opened its first two U.S outposts last year, one in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, and one in Greenwich, Conn. A third is expected to open in 2014.

In general, the top acquirers of 2013 logged big gains over 2012

Editor’s Note: The 25th annual Chain Store Age survey of Fastest-Growing Acquirers surveyed retail square footage purchased during the 2013 calendar year.

Lenders are lending again, the equity markets are investing again, and buyers and sellers appear to be moving retail real estate faster than last year — which was a relatively good recovery year.

New retail space in 2013 was once again heavy on redevelopment, expansion and outlet centers

Year five and, once again, too few square feet in ground-up shopping center construction to rank the “Fastest-Growing Developers” as has been the Chain Store Age tradition for the 20 years prior.

Today, developers seem fated to redevelop and expand existing centers, develop 300,000-sq.-ft. to 600,000-sq.-ft. outlet centers and perhaps add an occasional grocery-anchored infill center.