Supermarket/Grocery

Glendenning, New South Wales, Australia – McAlpine Hussmann Pty. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hussmann Corporation, has acquired the assets of the former Austral Refrigeration case equipment manufacturing and distribution operations from Retail FM (a wholly owned subsidiary of Woolworths Limited). At the same time, McAlpine Hussmann Australia Pty. Ltd. has acquired the Suzhou China case equipment manufacturing and distribution business from Retail FM.
 

New York — The early bird rate for Chain Store Age's 32nd annual Retail Store of the Year design competition ends on Nov. 29. Retailers, design firms, architects and suppliers are invited to submit entries for the competition, whose regular deadline for submission is December 23, 2013.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores said Mike Duke will retire as president and CEO, effective Feb. 1, 2014, and will be replaced by veteran company executive Doug McMillon. McMillon, 47, president and CEO of Walmart International, was also named to Wal-Mart’s board, effective immediately.

Here’s something you may not have heard in a while: Competition from multiple buyers is causing a spike in the price of many shopping centers. This isn’t a minor bubble, either — it has become apparent to me that the extremely competitive nature of the current market has led to some dramatic overpricing. From my perspective, many of the price tags on power centers and grocery-anchored neighborhood centers (and, to a lesser extent, traditional malls and unanchored strip centers) are getting out of touch with reality.

Greensboro, N.C. -- The Fresh Market posted weaker than expected sales and earnings for its third quarter. The upscale grocer also reduced its guidance for the year.

For the 13-week quarter ended Oct. 27, net income was up some 1.8%, to $11.1 million.

Net sales grew 13.4%, to $364.5 million. Comparable-store sales increased 3.1%.

The Fresh Market experienced an unanticipated sales slowdown across its store base, which it attributes to changing economic conditions and softening consumer confidence. Despite the slowdown, the company’s comparable-store sales grew and its gross margin expanded.

Seattle – The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New York has reportedly ruled that Starbucks baristas must share their tips with supervisors. According to the Associated Press, the ruling supports a lower court finding that baristas at Starbucks must share tips with shift supervisors, since the supervisors do much of the same work as the baristas.