Supermarket/Grocery

Los Angeles — CBRE’s national retail investment group has arranged the sale of Oak Grove Plaza, a 120,491-sq.-ft. retail center anchored by Kroger Signature, to Chicago-based LaSalle Investment Management.

CBRE marketed the property, which is located in the Dallas suburb of Sachse, Texas, on behalf of Invesco Advisers.

The retail and consumer packaged goods industry fared poorly in a recent global ranking of corporate sustainability leaders with the handful of standouts being Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Staples and Campbell Soup Company.

The ranking of 100 companies compiled by Corporate Knights, a media, research and investment advisory company, included only17 U.S. companies and only two retailers. Sweden’s H&M was ranked 64th and Staples was ranked 72nd.

Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. — Shopping Center development in Chicagoland has improved significantly in recent years. Activity showed a 98.7% increase in total sq. ft. from 2012 to 1013, according to the “Chicagoland 2014 Shopping Center Report” just issued by Mid-America Real Estate Corp.

In 2013, owners developed approximately 2.26 million sq. ft., compared to 1.14 million sq. ft. in 2012.

President Obama in his State of the Union address last night said he plans to sign an executive order increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour for workers on new government contracts and asked Congress to approve the same increase for all workers — and the National Retail Federation is not happy.

NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay issued a response ahead of the president’s address.

Target plans to carry on its Canadian expansion this year with nine additional stores, the majority of which will open in Ontario, although the retailer plans to open single stores in Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta and B.C.

Brookshire Grocery plans to reduce shrink and improve in-store operations with Retail 20/20 reporting, a cloud-based exception reporting solution by Agilence.

"We needed a powerful reporting application to get the most out of our data and a team to help us drive it," stated John D'Anna, CIO for Brookshire Grocery. "After a six-month pilot, it was clear that Retail 20/20 was able to deliver a significant return on our investment."

By Stacy Adams, VP marketing, mBlox

Issaquah, Wash. -- Online meal planning service eMeals has debuted a new Costco Classic Family Plan that delivers 14 Costco-focused dinner menus to a customer’s smartphone or computer inbox every two weeks. Designed to take full advantage of Costco promotions and volume packaging, each installment includes family-friendly entree and side-dish recipes, plus a complete grocery list for all 14 days that is organized by Costco aisle for speedy shopping.