Supermarket/Grocery

October 2013 is projected to be the coolest in four years for the U.S. as a whole. Expect colder year-on-year trends across the Northeast and Southwest, especially during retail weeks one, three and four. Wetter trends will encompass the Texas to Louisiana Gulf Coast, where tropical storm and hurricane potential will be the highest should any storms develop this month and threaten the U.S. mainland. The northern tier of the U.S. will trend drier than last year, especially across the Great Lakes.

Whole Foods Market’s core values of local, natural and environmentally responsible commerce are showcased in its store in downtown Detroit. The 21,506-sq.-ft. store, the retailer’s first location in the Motor City, features lower pricing and combines its signature organic and locally-made/grown goods with a larger selection of private-label items and frozen and prepackaged foods.

Single Touch Systems, a technology based mobile media solutions provider, has announced that its mobile messaging volume, which is a key business metric that drives revenues, has been growing at an increasingly accelerated pace.

Single Touch generates a portion of its operating business revenues by sending SMS text messages including reminder messages to customers of some of the largest retailers in the U.S. and U.K. Each message sent generates incremental revenues for Single Touch.

Mobile retail apps are nothing new, but retailers are constantly adding new features and functions that maximize their reach and value. Here’s a brief look at five cool mobile retail apps that have all been launched or piloted in the past few months:

Amazon.com Mobile Associates API

Consumer packaged goods companies are poised to gain a more robust offering of shopper insights from an expanded relationship between TiVo Research and Analytics and DunnhumbyUSA.

Cincinnati -- The Kroger Co. today announced its inaugural listing on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index-North America.

The Dow Jones Sustainability Index-North America tracks the economic, environmental and social sustainability performance of the top 20% of the 600 largest North America-based companies in the Dow Jones Global Total Stock Market Index.

Cincinnati -- The Kroger Co. has promoted Steve McKinney to president of the Fry's Food Stores division. Fry's operates 119 food stores in Arizona.

McKinney, 57, has been VP of operations at the company's Ralphs division since 2007. He succeeds Jon Flora, who passed away unexpectedly two weeks ago.

City of Commerce, Calif. – 99 Cents Only Stores, Inc. is opening two new stores in the Southwestern U.S. today. One is located in Arizona, and one in Texas.

99 Cents Only is opening its first store in Laveen, Ariz. at 3610 West Baseline Road. The store is approximately 11,685 sq. ft. and will feature a perishable food department, including produce, dairy and frozen foods.