Supermarket/Grocery

After taking a look at some of the post-holiday sales figures, it seems like maybe I was a little too pessimistic. While the overall 2013 holiday season’s sales aren’t particularly impressive, they aren’t flat, either — which is an outcome that I had worried about.

Austin, Texas -- Whole Foods Market has acquired leases from Safeway Inc. for seven locations formerly operated as Dominick's stores. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Mississauga, Ont. – Wal-Mart Canada plans to complete 35 supercenter projects in the company's fiscal year which runs from February 1, 2014 to January 31, 2015. The company also will expand its distribution network to support its growth and will continue to expand its Canadian e-commerce operation.  

KEASBEY, N.J. — ShopRite is piloting a program that takes shoppers beyond the traditional checkout lines and self-checkout lanes and enables them to check out from their smartphones.

Whole Foods Market has acquired leases from Safeway for seven locations formerly operated as Dominick's stores. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Owings Mills, Md. — Designer Shoe Warehouse has inked a deal to open a new store at Waugh Chapel Towne Centre in Gambrills, Md., between Annapolis and Baltimore, this summer. DSW has leased a 10,010-sq.-ft. space that the property’s owner Greenberg Gibbons will expand to 16,680 sq. ft. The deal leases the project up to 100%.

Mumbai – The Indian state of Rajasthan has reportedly prohibited direct foreign investment in supermarkets located there. According to Reuters, individual Indian states are allowed to decide whether or not they want to accept direct foreign investment in local supermarkets, and so far fewer than half of India’s 28 states have done so.

Boise, Idaho - WinCo Foods, LLC will open its first discount supermarkets in the state of Texas on Feb. 6, in the cities of Fort Worth and McKinney. The stores are each approximately 95,000 sq. ft. in size and include WinCo's newest decor package creating an efficient, clean feel that highlights product and coordinates with the hundreds of WinCo Foods private label products the company has recently introduced.

Asheville, N.C. – Ingles Markets, Inc. reported net income of $9.5 million during the first quarter of fiscal 2014, down 18% from $11.6 million during the same period a year earlier. Net sales rose 1.1% for the quarter, to $945.1 million from $935 million.

Grocery same-store sales decreased 0.8%. In addition, operating expenses rose, which may have contributed to the decline in net income. Robert P. Ingle II, CEO of Ingles, also cited holiday price-cutting measures.

Milwaukee – Roundy’s, Inc. will be offering 2,948,113 shares of its common stock, and certain selling stockholders will be offering 5,896,226 shares of the company’s common stock. The underwriters will be granted a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,326,650 shares of common stock from the selling stockholders, all at the offering price less the underwriting discount.