Supermarket/Grocery

Phoenix -- GDC/RE has leased a 47,036 former Phoenix Safeway to Epic Stores. The transaction marked GDC/RE’s tenth lease of more than 10,000 sq. ft. in the last 12 months.

“Arizona has been seen as the poster child of big-box vacancy in recent years,” says Joe Doucett, co-founder and designated broker of GDC/RE. “Our firm has re-tenanted every anchor and other large-format space in our portfolio.”

Virginia Beach, Va. -- Divaris Real Estate has represented the landlords in the renewal of five leases covering more than 18,500 sq. ft. in Hampton Roads, Va., retail properties.

Two of the leases were with Willow Oaks Associates, landlord of Willow Oaks Village Square Shopping Center in Hampton. The City of Hampton renewed a 7,778-sq.-ft. space, and Virginia ABC renewed its 3,300-sq.-ft. lease.

Mattress Firm renewed for 3,982 sq. ft. with JLP Chesapeake, owner of the Crossways Shopping Center in Chesapeake.

Minneapolis -- Retailer promotion activity continued to grow with a 21.6% increase to more than 11.3 billion pages in the first half of 2013, with Walmart leading in retailer activity, according to Kantar Media’s Marx report. Following on Walmart’s heels were Walgreens, Target and Family Dollar.

ATLANTA — Coca-Cola says slow economies in Europe, Asia and Latin America and cold weather conditions across multiple regions affected consumer spending as well as its overall nonalcoholic ready-to-drink beverage performance. 

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer conducted a survey of its customers, which revealed that 90% of them plan to spend the same or more than they did last year and 40% will have completed their back-to-school shopping before the school year begins. 

Median spend will range between $101-$150 per student and $201-$250 in total. In addition, 15% of parents expect students to help pay for a portion of school expenses and nearly 30% will get help from grandparents.

Hilton Head Island, S.C. -- Shelter Cove Towne Centre, an outdoor mall now under construction, has taken a bold step to engage the surrounding Hilton Head Island community — both residents and visitors. It has set up shop on a crowd-sourcing website called Popularise and asked Hilton Head residents to suggest tenants for the 290,000-sq.-ft. property.

Chicago -- Home meal replacements or prepared foods from supermarkets, drug stores and other retail outlets will continue to capture share of the meal/snacks market by stealing visits from restaurants, according to a recent study by The NPD Group.

Its recent foodservice forecast through 2022 indicated that instances of prepared food purchased at retailers for at-home consumption will increase by 10% over the next decade compared to a 4% increase forecast for commercial foodservice traffic.

TORONTO — Loblaw has entered into a definitive agreement with Shoppers Drug Mart under which Loblaw will acquire Shoppers Drug Mart for C$12.4 billion in cash and stock.
 

Total U.S. Shopper Traffic in Retail Stores and Malls for June 2013

Shopper activity slightly decreased last month, thus returning to seasonal standards after May holidays. Retail foot traffic decreased 1.3% in June compared to May 2013, a slight departure from recently reported positive month-over-month retail trends. However, foot traffic for June 2013 was relatively flat compared to the same month in 2012 — with an increase of 0.3%.

The U.S. Census Bureau released a report showing an increase of 0.6% in retail trade sales for June when compared to May. Sales were up 6% when compared to June 2012.

The figures are adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, and exclude automobiles, gas stations and restaurants.