Supermarket/Grocery

When Walmart executives speak about prices, inflation or the nation’s economic condition their comments create quite a stir, and that’s what we saw again this week when Bill Simon spoke to USA Today.

Boulder, Col. -- Sunflowers Farmer Market plans to open its first location in California on May 11, in Roseville, which is in the northern half of the state.

Sunflower operates 33 stores in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Texas.
 

New York City -- Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, Best Buy and CVS took top honors in Interbrand’s annual ranking of the 50 most valuable U.S. retail brands. The U.S. brands are valued in collaboration with Interbrand Design Forum, the retail experience group within Interbrand.

New York City -- Wal-Mart Stores plans to expand its presence in the smaller cities of China, Ed Chan, CEO and president of the company’s China operations, said today at an investor meeting by video conference, Bloomberg reported.

The discounter may also buy more land to build stores in China, which it predicted will be the world’s largest grocery market by 2014, according to the report. Wal-Mart is building its seventh Sam’s Club outlet in the northeastern port city of Dalian, on the first plot of land it bought in the country.

NORTHBROOK, Ill. -- Procter & Gamble announced that it has teamed up with its grocery retail partners to create a mobile app designed to help consumers live and shop more sustainably. The app, called "My Carbon Footprint," works on iPhone, iPad or Droid devices is an interactive, social media-enabled carbon footprint gauge powered by P&G's Future Friendly initiative, P&G reported. It will become available on Earth Day, April 22.

AUSTIN, Texas and WASHINGTON -- Whole Foods Market announced that it is teaming up with AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Festival, the nation's leading documentary festival, to award $50,000 in grant money to filmmakers working in the green film genre.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores’ Scott Price, CEO for Asia, said Wednesday that the retailer makes $16 billion in annual sales in Japan, China and India.

In a report broadcast on Wal-Mart’s website and covered by Bloomberg, Price said that operations in Japan have $8 billion annual sales from 414 stores with 36,000 workers.

Annual revenue is $7.5 billion in China, generated by 329 stores, and sales in India are less than $1 billion a year, according to Price.

San Francisco -- Madison Marquette has announced the return of its retail business incubator program it calls Retail Star.

As part of the program, Madison Marquette is on the hunt for the third consecutive year to find entrepreneurs with new viable retail concepts.

The competition returns to Bayfair Center, in San Leandro, Calif., and kicks-off for the first time this year at Bay Street, in Emeryville, Calif., according to Madison Marquette.

Sacramento, Calif. -- Voit Real Estate Services announced that the Gallelli Retail Team, led by Jason K. Gallelli, has joined the Sacramento office of Voit.

In their previous role with Colliers International, The Gallelli Retail Team represented more than 50 Northern California shopping centers, as well as representing more than 25 national retailers, such as Cinemark Theatres, Best Buy, TJX Companies, Costco, Sprouts Farmers Market, Chipotle, and Panera Bread.
 

NEW YORK — The share of private-label brands and products will double to 50% by 2025, thanks to a continued emphasis made by retailers.

In a new report released by Rabobank's Food and Agribusiness Research division, author Sebastiaan Schreijen noted that national brands and smaller, secondary brands (referred to as "A" and "B" brands, respectively) will prompt an intense price competition and therefore will cause the private-label market to become chock-full of higher-quality "B"-brand products at lower prices.