Supermarket/Grocery

How will retailers fare in 2016? Very well, according to experienced market watchers.

“We expect core retail sales to grow 5.3% in 2016,” says Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer economics for Moody’s Analytics, a research firm based in West Chester, Pa. (Core retail sales exclude volatile revenues from auto sales and gas stations.)

That is notably faster than the 4.2% rate anticipated when 2015 sales are finally tallied. The 2015 experience was, again, slightly better than that the 3.9% growth of 2014.

It’s official: Smart & Final Stores is acquiring 32 Haggen stores in Central and Southern California.

Thanksgiving may be over, but it is worth watching a video of how Meijer made a difference in the lives of hundreds of customers and employees ahead of the holiday and in the process earned itself immeasurable goodwill.

EDENS announced it acquired Casa Linda Plaza, one of the oldest shopping centers in the Dallas, Texas. The 323,000 sq. ft. center, was first opened in the late 1940s.

Casa Linda Plaza is located five miles northeast of downtown, situated on three of the four corners at the intersection of Buckner Boulevard and Garland Road. The center is anchored by Albertson's and Petco, as well as, mix of local and national retailers including Pie Wei, Torchy's Tacos, El Fenix Restaurant, Highland Park Cafeteria, and Elliott's Hardware to name a few.

Mid-America Real Estate announced three new retail leases recently signed.

New Bohemi signed a lease for 4,209 sq. ft. at Eagan Towne Centre located in Eagan, Minnesota off of Interstate 35. The 153,781 sq. ft. center is anchored by Cub Foods, Big Lots and Dollar Tree.

Title Boxing Club signed a lease for 3,495 sq. ft. at 55th and Lyndale located in Minneapolis. The 4,736 sq. ft. center is shadow-anchored by Walgreens, Midas, Enterprise and Kowalski’s.

Muji, the minimalist Japanese lifestyle brand, has opened its largest U.S. location yet, a two-level, 12,000-sq.-ft.

X Team International announced that Mountain West Retail and Investment and Newmark Grubb ACRES completed sales of two grocery-anchored properties same-day.

Canyon Center, a 51,914-sq.-ft. property in Sandy, Utah, is anchored by Smith’s and Shopko; the seller was Dee’s Inc., a third generation, family-owned real estate company, and the buyer was Pacific Castle, a Southern California-based institutional investor.

A key figure in the development of Walmart’s small format Neighborhood Market and international operations has joined the board of asset disposal firm Liquidity Services.

Ed Kolodzieski joined the board of Liquidity Services effective Nov. 17 and also serves on the company’s compensation and governance committees. Liquidity Services bills itself as a global solution provider in the reverse supply chain with the world’s largest marketplace for business surplus.

The 45-acre Assembly Row in Boston breaks almost all the rules for the traditional model for outlet centers. Just three miles from downtown Boston, Assembly Row is an urban-style mixed-use center with a wide range of outlet retail options alongside entertainment components like LEGOLAND Discovery Center, AMC Theatres and over a dozen restaurants from Legal Sea Foods to Vancouver, B.C.-based Earls Kitchen + Bar.

Company HQ: Cincinnati, Salt Lake City, New York City and Atlanta

Company Website: www.phillipsedison.com