Supermarket/Grocery

The digital and physical selling environments are converging. Whether this phenomenon is called “cross-channel”, “omnichannel”, or given some other label, consumers now routinely use their Internet-enabled (and frequently mobile) devices to find information about potential purchases, even when they are in the store. So as far as consumers are concerned, the selling channels have already converged. As a result, retailers are now forced to catch up.

Whole Foods Market says it is slashing more than 1% of its workforce in an effort to lower prices for its customers and invest in technology upgrades, as the company fights against increasing competition in the organic grocery space.

Whole Foods Market says it is slashing more than 1% of its workforce in an effort to lower prices for its customers and invest in technology upgrades.

The grocery chainsaysit will cut about 1,500 jobs, or 1.6% of its workforce, over the next eight weeks. The company says many of the reductions will come through attrition.

As of Oct. 1, retailers who do not comply with the Europay, Mastercard, Visa (EMV) security standard that relies on embedded chips in payment cards face a shift in card fraud liability. Many EMV issues have not yet been resolved. Here are three big ones:

Swipe left out
Retailers have been warned repeatedly that if they do not implement EMV-compliant POS terminals, they will bear liability for any fraud resulting from an EMV card transaction.

A new marketplace has launched with the goal of helping retailers and suppliers keep up with the blistering pace of innovation that is transforming their world.

Woodbridge, N.J. -- Levin Management announced that T.J.Maxx has joined St. Georges Crossing in Woodbridge, New Jersey. The 23,000 sq. ft. free-standing T.J.Maxx store will anchor the fully leased, 340,000 sq. ft. shopping center.

St. Georges Crossing is located at the intersection of Routes 1 & 9 and 35. The center includes a mix of retail, restaurant and service tenants: ShopRite, P.C. Richard & Son, PetSmart and Pier 1 Imports, Golf Galaxy, AutoZone, Bertucci’s and Wine Country.

Smart & Final celebrated the one year anniversary of its public stock offering by telling investors a growth story about differentiation and new store expansion.

Smart & Final, a uniquely positioned operator of 266 warehouse style stores, has plans to open 100 new stores in the Western United States during the next four years. CEO Dave Hirz dropped that bombshell while he and other senior members of the company were at the New York Stock Exchange to ring the opening bell to commemorate the one year anniversary of the company’s listing.

The bankrupt Haggen supermarket chain has listed 111 locations for sale, many in California, as the company looks to refocus its operations on 37 stores in the Pacific Northwest.