Supermarket/Grocery

Chicago – Retail is the top industry targeted for data breaches. According to the 2014 Global Security Report from cybersecurity provider Trustwave, retail made up 35% of attacks Trustwave investigated in 2013.

Food and beverage ranked second at 18% and hospitality ranked third at 11%. In addition, POS breaches accounted for 33% of Trustwave’s 2013 investigations, while e-commerce made up 54% of assets targeted and data centers comprised 10% of assets targeted. The median number of days from initial intrusion to detection was 87 days.

For the U.S. as a whole, temperatures will trend similar to last year and below normal, but there will be a split in trends across the nation with warmer temperatures in the West and cooler temperatures in the more densely populated East. The month will begin with warm weather across much of the nation and that will continue into the Columbus Day weekend in the East before turning cooler. The Northwest region will trend wetter than last year, but it still remains drier than normal, while the Southwest will be wetter than last year and normal.

London – A group of U.K. retailers led by W.M. Morrison Supermarkets plc is reportedly seeking to extend the time period for which it can claim antitrust damages against MasterCard from 2006 to 1992. According to Bloomberg, this could add as much as $1.6 billion to the damages the retailers are seeking.

Chicago -- While retailers have collected years of customer data, only 9% are leveraging the information in a structured, usable way, according to HRC Advisory, a leading strategic retail advisory firm and unit of Hilco Global. The finding is part of HRC’s latest retail industry study, which found that outdated organizational structures and processes, non-integrated IT platforms and a lack of a clear roadmap are major barriers preventing customer data in enabling a retailer’s omnichannel efforts.

By Matthew K. Harding, president, Levine Management

Moving into the final months of 2014, the outlook for retail in the Northeast remains quite positive. We are seeing demand from national, local and franchise companies across a broad range of categories.
 

Meijer has launched a first-of-its-kind food solutions program in each of its 213 stores. According to the retailer, “Ready! For You” is designed to meet the tastes and lifestyles of busy families by providing recipe ideas, inspiration and savings opportunities in-store and online.

Mixed-use projects have become a consumer home base

The concept of a shopping center as a place where people simply show up to make a few purchases and leave is becoming passé. Increasingly, developers are building mixed-use centers that include residential, office and entertainment components, which turn them more into a consumer home base and less of a functional destination.

Curbing the rising cost of utilities can improve the bottom line

For multi-site retail companies, energy efficiency makes business sense. It allows retailers to reduce cost and risk, and create good will with investors, employees, customers and the government. Ultimately, it also helps improve the bottom line.

When it comes to energy management, reducing operating cost should be the focus where the cost of energy is a sizeable part of operating the business.