Supermarket/Grocery

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid Corp. saw same-store sales edge up 1.1% in August, hurt by a 1.7% front-end same-store sales drop. Pharmacy comps rose 2.5%.

For the quarter, total sales edged up 0.7% to $6.25 billion, and same-store sales rose 1%.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — VeriFone Systems has launched GlobalBay Merchant, a point-of-sale software platform and support infrastructure designed to help ISOs and acquirers provide tablet POS solutions to small and medium businesses.

Brussels, Belgium – Delhaize Group has named Franz Muller as CEO, effective Nov. 8. Muller will succeed Pierre-Olivier Beckers, who will remain available to advise the new CEO until year-end and continue to serve on the board of directors in a non-executive capacity thereafter.

Muller, 52, has more than 15 years of senior leadership experience in retail, most recently as a member of the management board of Metro AG and CEO of Metro Cash & Carry. He will start with Delhaize on Oct. 14, prior to assuming the role of CEO.

Chicago -- Whole Foods Market plans to open an 18,000-sq.-ft. store on Chicago’s South Side, in the impoverished Englewood neighborhood, in 2015. The store will be built as part of a larger development at the northwest corner of South Halsted and West 63rd Streets. The retail portion of the site is being developed by DL3.

Retailers were already leery about the outlook for consumer spending this holiday season and reports Wednesday of record auto sales in August only add to the concern.

Both Walmart and Target reported disappointing second quarter sales and tempered their outlook for the full year. Conversely, car salespeople across the country were clinking champagne glasses and cashing commission checks as their employers, everyone from Mazda to Honda to Porsche and Ford, said August was a record month.

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Belgian international food retailer Delhaize Group announced that Roland Smith, CEO of Delhaize America, and Pierre-Olivier Beckers, CEO of Delhaize Group, are leaving the company.

New York -- Drugstore operator Duane Reade in late August passed an important milestone: It surpassed 1 million Twitter followers. The drugstore chain, which is owned by Walgreens, is most-followed retailer on Twitter in the food, drug and mass arena.

Duane Reade has garnered five times more Twitter followers than its parent company Walgreens (180,390 followers), the second-most followed drug store retailer. CVS/pharmacy, No. 3, is followed by 117,931 Twitter followers.

CINCINNATI — Febreze has launched a collection of scents specifically designed for the bedroom. The brand has partnered with the National Sleep Foundation and actress Alyssa Milano to promote healthy sleep habits, with a focus on adult bedtime routines that help you relax.