Supermarket/Grocery

Richmond, Va. — Divaris Real Estate has renewed two retail leases totaling more than 9,500 sq. ft. in Richmond, Va.

Aaron’s renewed its lease for 8,008 sq. ft. in Brookhill Azalea Shopping Center, which DRE leases and manages for the landlord, BSV Premier Brookhill.

In a separate transaction, Subway renewed its lease for 1,575 sq. ft. at 360 West Shopping Center, which DRE www.divaris.com leases and manages for the landlord, a partnership between HSW and RMW1.

Burlington, Mass. — Torchlight Investors has sold the property at 476 Boston Turnpike. KeyPoint Partners represented Torchlight in the transaction.

B-W Warrenville Operations bought the property, a former Borders Books store, prominently located in a retail-intensive section of Route 9 near Stop & Shop, Home Depot, Bed Bath & Beyond, Bob’s Stores and Staples.

The new owner plans to redevelop the site for Buffalo Wild Wings and Tile Shop.

Plymouth Meeting, Pa. — J.Crew Factory, which offers still fashionable apparel from past J.Crew collections, plans to open a 6,100-sq.-ft. store in The Plaza Shops at Plymouth Meeting Mall this fall.

Anchored by Macy’s and Boscov’s, Plymouth Meeting Mall offers more than 100 specialty retailers. Whole Foods Market and Café anchors The Plaza Shops extension of the mall. Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust www.preit.com owns, manages and leases the property.

Boulder, Col. -- Publix Pharmacy is North America’s favorite based on customer satisfaction, according to a new study of 3,600 consumers conducted by customer intelligence solutions provider Market Force Information. Target was a close second and Kroger ranked third. All three received high marks in operational attributes such as service, cleanliness, atmosphere and checkout times.

Walgreens and CVS/pharmacy ranked the highest when those consumers were asked to name their pharmacy chain, with 18% identifying Walgreens and 17% CVS.  

Phoenix -- Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has completed the implementation of the Manthan Systems ARC BI platform and merchandise analytics technology in 166 retail stores across eight states.

Austin, Texas – Whole Foods Market is launching an in-store meat apprenticeship program for its team members. The intensive 18-month training program is designed to transform aspiring butchers into skilled meat cutters and teach them the company's standards for quality, animal welfare, food safety, and sanitation.

Teaneck, N.J. – Physical stores remain critically important to omnichannel commerce. Results of the fourth annual Cognizant Customer Experience Study show that for consumable products, 75% of shoppers still prefer to make an in-store purchase.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Safeway Inc. announced that it has adopted a one-year stockholder rights plan, or a “poison pill,” to discourage an unfriendly takeover.

The company adopted the plan after it became aware that unnamed investors had accumulated “a significant amount” of its stock. The investor turned out to be hedge fund company Jana Partners, which disclosed in a filing that it has accumulated a 6.2% stake in the supermarket retailer.