Supermarket/Grocery

Study: Zappos is "simplest" U.S. brand
New York –- Online footwear retailer Zappos is ranked the simplest brand in the U.S. And that’s a good thing. According to the new Brand Simplicity Index ranking of U.S. brands from brand advisory firm Siegel & Gale, the top 10 list is dominated by retailers. The list includes Amazon.com at number two, Subway (#3), Pizza Hut (#4), Netflix (#5), Trader Joe’s (#6), Kroger (#7), McDonald’s (#8), Chipotle (#9) and Dunkin’ Donuts (#10).
PriceSmart misses on Q4 income, beats Street on revenues
San Diego –- PriceSmart Inc. reported net income of $21.9 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, up 5% from $20.8 million in the same quarter the prior fiscal year. However, this was still beneath Wall Street expectations. However, PriceSmart beat Wall Street projections with total revenue of $622.6 million, a 5% hike from $585.4 million. The addition of two new warehouse stores, bringing the total to 33, helped boost revenues.

Tech Guest Viewpoint: Integrating Your Omnichannel Marketing Strategy

By Ben Kaplan, CashStar It is clear that mobile has an essential role in omnichannel retail, serving as the bridge between in-store and online with shoppers using their devices for product research both in and out of the store, to store and manage points, coupons and gift cards, and increasingly, to make purchases.
Commentary: Halloween's impact on shopping center and retail industry

By Mike Kercheval, President and CEO, International Council of Shopping Centers
Plug & Play’s CEO Corner: Polina Marchenko

Plug and Play brings together retailers and start-ups who offer specific technology and expertise that can relieve merchants’ pain points. Customer Disruption highlights one of those start-ups in each issue with a brief Q&A. This issue, the spotlight is on Polina Marchenko, CEO of KptnCook. What does KptnCook do?
Rally House opens at Old Town Center in Dallas

Dallas -– Specialty sports retailer Rally House has signed a 10-year lease for a 6,200-sq.-ft. store location at Old Town Shopping Center in Dallas. Westwood Financial Corp. (WFC), a privately held owner-operators of U.S. retail properties, operates the center.
Litehouse wins dressing award

Strong sales and market share gains for Opa by Litehouse Feta Dill Greek Yogurt earned the new product the Dressing of the Year award from The Association for Dressings & Sauces.

The dressing and sauce group held its annual meeting in Naples, Fl., recently and bestowed top honors on Litehouse due to the impressive performance of Feta Dill Greek Yogurt. In one year, the new product became the best-selling dressing in the market accounting for 21% of the yogurt refrigerated salad dressing category, according to Litehouse.
Harvard Business Review: And the best-performing CEO is…

New York -- Harvard Business Review released its annual list of the 100 best-performing CEOs in the world, and heading up the list is Amazon chief Jeff Bezos.
Avison Young executes sale of Lindbergh Crossing in Atlanta

Atlanta –- Commercial real estate services firm Avison Young has completed the $7.06 million sale of Lindbergh Crossing, a 27,057-sq.-ft., fully-leased shopping center in Atlanta. The team enabled the seller, Lindbergh Crossing, LLC, to harvest a significant gain on the property within a relatively short holding period.
Is the Future for Stores Getting Smaller?

By Jeff Weidauer, Vestcom International There’s been a lot of discussion in recent months about store sizes, in particular the fact that stores are getting smaller, primarily because of the impact of e-commerce. For example, Walmart and Target are both committed to offering smaller format stores.
Is the Future for Stores Getting Smaller?

By Jeff Weidauer, Vestcom International There’s been a lot of discussion in recent months about store sizes, in particular the fact that stores are getting smaller, primarily because of the impact of e-commerce. For example, Walmart and Target are both committed to offering smaller format stores.
Tech Guest Viewpoint: Why Grocers are Getting ‘Fresh’ with Suppliers

By David Barach, Market6