Supermarket/Grocery

By Jason Baker and Kenneth Katz, co-founders and principals, Baker Katz

Acosta Sales & Marketing, a leading full-service sales and marketing agency in the consumer packaged goods industry, has reported that more than 30 national leading consumer brands and 100 grocery retail banners have pledged to support this generation of veterans by participating in the 2014 Wounded Warrior Project Believe in Heroes campaign.

Believe in Heroes benefits Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to honor and empower Wounded Warriors.

Ikea has partnered with Feeding America, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization, to sponsor an in-store program that supports national children's hunger programs.

These programs include giving free meals and snacks to low income children, as well as giving out nutritious easy-to-prepare food for children to take home on weekends, in addition to other programs to meet the needs of hungry children.

June was a good month for two of the nation’s largest drugstore operators. Walgreens reported sales of $6.3 billion for the month, an increase of 8.9% as compared to the same month in fiscal 2013, while Rite Aid realized a 3.9% same-store sales increase for the four weeks ended June 28.

Total front-end sales at Walgreens increased 1.8% in June compared with the same month in fiscal 2013, while comparable store front-end sales increased 1.3%. Customer traffic in comparable stores decreased 2% while basket size increased 3.3%.
 

Toronto – Loblaw Companies Ltd. has selected the SAP Store Device Control by GK software solution marketed by SAP. This product offers the infrastructure to control stores in an omnichannel commerce architecture.

GK Software US Inc. will handle the implementation of the software in this project.
 

New York -- Shrinkage levels average 1.27% of sales, which translates to a $57 billion loss to the industry, according to the U.S. Retail Fraud Survey, which is based on research into the systems and strategies used by 100 leading North American retailers.

By Kevin Smith, VP of onshore corporate services for ImpactWeather

According to Forrester Research, weather is the leading cause of business disruptions¹. From commodity demands and supply chain interruptions to community assistance, retailers know the power that severe weather has over their economic profits and losses.

Milwaukee -- The Marcus Corp. announced that Sendik’s Food Market will open a 32,000-sq.-ft. grocery store at The Corners of Brookfield, an open-air town center development in the Town of Brookfield, Wisconsin.

The Balistreri-owned and operated grocer will be located on the Bluemound Road side of the 19-acre site at the intersection of I-94, Barker Road and Bluemound Road at the main entrance to the shopping center.

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. -- Mid-America Asset Management Inc. has announced three new retail leases on behalf of two shopping centers in Chicago’s southwest suburbs.     

Flexeon Rehabilitation signed a lease for 2,923 sq. ft. at Hillcrest Shopping Center in Crest Hill, Illinois. The 240,268-sq.-ft. center is anchored by TJ Maxx, Food 4 Less, Citi Trends, and Harbor Freight Tools.