Supermarket/Grocery

Deerfield, Ill. — Walgreens will celebrate the official opening of a two-story, flagship store in Honolulu, in the Ala Moana shopping district on Feb. 21 at 9 a.m.
 
This is Walgreens 15th flagship store, its 12th store on Oahu and 18th overall in Hawaii. The culturally inspired design reflects elements of traditional Hawaiian architecture, as well as embraces components of the natural landscape.
 

Increased traffic and better than expected same store sales growth at U.S. stores were bright spots in the retailer’s fourth quarter earnings CEO Doug McMillon characterized as good despite a one cent increase in earnings per share. 

Bentonville, Ark. -- Increased traffic and better than expected same-store sales growth at Walmart’s U.S. stores were bright spots in the retailer’s fourth quarter earnings. But the big story in Thursday’s earnings release was the announcement that approximately 500,000 full-time and part-time associates at Walmart U.S. stores and Sam's Clubs will receive pay raises in the first half of the current fiscal year.  

New York - Retail sales in the U.S. will reach $4.87 trillion for the full year 2015. According to EMarketer analysis, this represents a 4% increase from 2014.

U.S. retail e-commerce sales will total approximately $350 billion in 2015, up 14% from $305.7 billion the prior year. Despite rapid growth, retail ecommerce will still account for just 7% of total retail sales in the U.S. during the current year, EMarketer estimates.

Leading regional supermarket operator Hy-Vee is expanding its relationship with Interactions to provide experiential marketing services.

Interactions says it will engage shoppers through experiential marketing events in 50 store locations in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas and Missouri, with plans to expand to more than 145 stores throughout the year. In addition to planned event services, Interactions will also collaborate with Hy-Vee to develop additional experiential marketing activities, such as new store openings, community events and Hy-Vee branded programs.

While Kmart has been closing many of its stores as it seeks to restructure the company, the retailer has quietly launched a pilot program to re-brand itself as K-Fresh.

The Chillicothe Gazette reports that the Kmart on North Bridge Street in Chillicothe, Ohio, has scaled back its hours and grocery offerings in preparation for its switch from a 24-hour supercenter to the retail chain's new K-Fresh concept.

New York -- The Kmart store in Chillicothe, Ohio, has scaled back its hours and grocery offerings in preparation for its switch from a 24-hour supercenter to the retail chain's new K-Fresh concept, according to a report by the Chillicothe Gazette.

The newspaper reports that the K-Fresh concept has been piloted at two stores, one in suburban Chicago and another in Hawaii.

By Kirsten Early, Partner and Director of Retail, SRSA Commercial Real Estate