Supermarket/Grocery

Washington, D.C. -- Import volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase a modest 1.1% in July over the same month last year, but a slow summer should be followed by significant increases as retailers head into the holiday season this fall, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released Wednesday by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.


London -- Global online retail revenues will reach $4.3 trillion in 2025, accounting for nearly 20% of total retail, according to a new report from Frost & Sullivan. In leading markets such as the United States and the United Kingdom, nearly 25% of retail will be online, the study said.

Bella Vista, Australia -- Woolworths Supermarket, a division of Australian retail conglomerate Woolworths Ltd., is optimizing home delivery routes for its growing e-commerce business using solutions from Descartes Systems Group. Woolworths is employing the Descartes Route Planner and Mobile applications with assistance from Descartes development partner The Brisbane Group. Using the Descartes technology, Woolworths combines route planning, tracking and execution with mobile functionality.

Los Angeles -- For the second consecutive quarter, the retail availability rate has fallen 30 basis points, according to the latest analysis from CBRE Group. The rate now stands at 12.2% and testifies to improved retailer confidence as consumer spending continues to rebound.

The availability rate tracks space that is actively being marketed and available for tenant build-out within 12 months.

West Bridgewater, Mass. -- Shaw’s plans to close six stores operating under its namesake banner by Aug. 3. The locations targeted for shuttering include four stores in the Massachusetts towns of Fall River, Fairhaven, Stoughton, and Taunton and two stores in the Rhode Island towns of Westerly and Woonsocket.

Cincinnati -- The Kroger Co. has reached an agreement to purchase all outstanding shares of Harris Teeter Supermarkets for $49.38 per share in cash, or about $2.5 billion. Kroger will finance the transaction with debt and also assume about $100 million of debt from Harris Teeter.

Harris Teeter operates 212 stores in North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee, Delaware, Florida, Georgia and the District of Columbia primarily in the Carolinas. The company had revenues of approximately $4.5 billion for fiscal year 2012.

CINCINNATI and MATTHEWS, N.C. — Kroger, already one of the world’s largest retailers, is about to get even larger. The company plans to purchase all outstanding shares of Harris Teeter Supermarkets for $49.38 per share in cash. 

The merger agreement not only allows Kroger to expand its brands portfolio but also allows it to expand its market with a complementary base of 212 stores, of which 147 have pharmacies, in Southeastern and mid-Atlantic markets and in Washington, D.C.

Schenectady, N.Y. -- Price Chopper Supermarkets said it has named Karlin Bohnert as senior VP of information systems/CIO.

Bohnert most recently served as CIO of RGIS in Auburn Hills, Mich. She joins Price Chopper with more 30 years of strategic IT experience gained at such companies as Walmart, Home Depot, ANF, The Limited and MCI.

West Bridgewater, Mass. -- Shaw’s and Star Market have ended their loyalty card program. The program offered shoppers sale prices on selected items.
 
In line with the decision to drop the loyalty card program, Shaw’s and Star Market announced they are lowering prices on thousands of items across all of its 169 locations.

By Nathan Needel, PRD International

For years, surveillance systems have recorded thefts and other incidences, including those at POS location, for future investigation. Now, video can be used to stop incidences as they happen. To do this, users need to quit thinking of surveillance systems as simply repositories of what’s been seen and recorded and, instead, think of cameras as sensors in a system. Why should you have to search through recordings to locate the incident when, if fact, they can stop it as it happens?