Supermarket/Grocery

Brookshire Grocery Co. is expanding with a new neighborhood format.    The Tyler, Texas-based supermarket operator will open 26 locations this summer under its new Spring Market banner. The stores will be on the sites of former Walmart Express stores that Brookshire is in the process of acquiring. (The acquisition is scheduled to close in July.) The locations range from southern Louisiana to west Texas.  

Internet shopping is extremely popular, but how much room for further growth is there?   According to a new study of more than 3,300 U.S. consumers age 15 and up from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the overall move to online shopping is expected to slow considerably during the next three years.  

PizzaRev, the make-your-own pizza concept backed by Buffalo Wild Wings, will soon be on the march in South Florida.   The company has signed a franchise agreement with Surfside Coffee, one of the largest Dunkin’ Donuts franchise networks in Florida, to develop 45 restaurants across greater Miami. The group’s first location is projected to open at the Miracle Mile in Coral Gables.  

Summer is an interesting time in the world of retail. With lazy vacation-stilted months in June and July and the comparatively bustling back-to-school energy of August, it is a season of contradictions. While, yes, the unique challenges and opportunities of summer sales patterns and scheduling are different than any other time of the year, understanding what is likely on tap for retailers this summer requires an appreciation for certain universal factors that play a role no matter what the calendar says.  

Solid. That’s how many industry analysts described retail sales in May.   Driven partly by rising gasoline prices, sales increased 0.5% in May, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, above the 0.3% gain economists expected. Excluding automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants, retail sales rose 0.2% unadjusted over April, according to the National Retail Federation.   

Wal-Mart Stores is undertaking a series of executive changes at its international divisions, starting with a new head for its struggling United Kingdom business, Asda.
 
Andy Clarke, president and CEO of Asda, will step down on July 11, after having worked at the British company for more than 20 years. Asda has been under heavy competitive pressure and has reported seven straight quarterly sales declines.

Amazon is lending its considerable logistics expertise to a major food bank in New Jersey.

The Internet giant sent three logistics experts to tour the Community FoodBank’s 285,000-sq.-ft. warehouse in Hillside, New Jersey, and suggested ways the agency can run more efficiently, NJ Advance Media reported.

In their never-ending quest to make the store shopping experience as seamless and painless as possible, an increasing number of retailers are offering variants of curbside pickup.   This simply means consumers can order goods online and then have the items delivered to their car as they wait, usually within five to 10 minutes. Some retailers accept payment ahead of time, while others execute the transaction on the spot with a mobile POS device.