Supermarket/Grocery

Target’s Cornell tasty addition to YUM board
A little over a year into his tenure as Target’s chairman and CEO, Brian Cornell has added new responsibilities as a member of the board of directors at KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell parent company Yum! Brands.

Cornell’s appointment to the Yum board comes 13 months after he was named to the top job at Target and just three months after Target sold its pharmacy business to CVS Health for $1.9 billion. The latter is noteworthy because two executives with strong ties to CVS Health serve on Yum’s Nominating and Governance Committee.
Transwestern sells Alabama center for $18.5 million
Transwestern's Southeast Investment Services Group representedKentucky-based Langley Properties Co. in the disposition of Pelican Place at Craft Farms for$18.5 million.Atlanta-based RCG Ventures acquired the 229,911-sq.-ft. shopping center located inGulf Shores, Alabama.

Transwestern VPFred Victorrepresented the seller in the transaction. RCG was represented in-house byScott Tarbet, VP of acquisitions.

Retailers to get tax relief for store remodels/improvements?

Two bills passed by a key House committee would help retailers save on store remodeling and improvement costs upfront.
Smart & Final shuffles board

Smart & Final Stores Inc. is shuffling the membership of its board of directors. The discount grocer has elected Paul N. Hopkins and Kenneth I. Tuchman to the board.

Hopkins is the former chairman of the board of directors of insurance company Farmers Group Inc. and CEO of its Americas operations, including Latin America and shared services operations.
Report: How ready are U.S. retailers for EMV? Not very.

The overwhelming majority of merchants are not ready for the shift to EMV.

Only 27% of U.S. merchants will be EMV-ready by the October 1st liability shift, down from the 34% estimated in March, according to a survy by The Strawhecker Group (TSG).

By December 2015, 44% of U.S. merchants are expected to adopt EMV, however EMV-readiness will not reach a threshold of least 90% until 2017— more than 15 months after the shift.
Edens selected to revitalize grocery-anchored center with mix of uses

Edens and Montgomery County Maryland announced the redevelopment of Burtonsville Crossing and the adjacent park-and-ride lot located in Burtonsville, Maryland.

In 2014, Edens was selected by Montgomery County to develop the adjacent surface parking lot while continuing to provide commuter parking at this strategic location.
Walmart expands grocery pickup service

On the same day Target launched a pilot<span st
Android Pay gains processing support

The newly launched Android Pay mobile payment service from Google is gaining a supporter in the crucial area of processing.

As Google continues its roll out of Android Pay, Atlanta-based e-commerce technology provider First Data Corp. is supporting the new service for in-store transactions.
Amazon primes southern California for fast delivery

Amazon.com is priming consumers in southern California for fast delivery.

Amazon’s Prime Now one-hour delivery service, has expanded to Los Angeles and Orange County, including areas such as Santa Monica, Redondo Beach, Silver Lake and Irvine.

To support this expansion of Prime Now, Amazon has established four Prime Now hubs in southern California to serve its Prime members with superfast delivery on tens of thousands of items including paper towels, chilled and frozen items like milk and ice cream, and televisions and Kindle devices.
Analysis: Target Partners With Instacart As Home Delivery Heats Up

The latest posting from the McMillanDoolittle blog:

Target announced a partnership with Instacart in Target’s hometown of Minneapolis. This is Target’s first experiment with same-day delivery of products, and it coincides with the expansion of their grocery and fresh business.
Amazon gives L.A. Prime Now gift

Just in time for the holidays, Amazon.com has extended its addictive Prime Now service to Southern California by establishing four distribution hubs.
Wal-Mart targets expanded grocery pickup

Bentonville, Ark. – On the same day Target launched a pilot of the Instacart online grocery delivery service, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced it will expand its existing grocery pickup service.