Retail

Ahold USA-owned supermarket chain Giant Food Stores celebrated its 90th birthday.

The supermarket banner, which operates nearly 200 stores under the Giant and Martin's Food Markets brands in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, marked its anniversary Friday morning at a store in its hometown of Carlisle, Pa. Customers at all the company's 200 stores will receive free slices of cake and free apple slices Friday.

Denton, Texas — Golden Triangle Mall has announced the addition of Charlotte Russe to a list of national and regional tenants that have recently committed to or renewed leases at the renovated mall. The specialty fashion retailer will occupy 4,475 sq. ft. and will open before the holiday shopping season.

In addition to Charlotte Russe, the list of new retailers includes Buckle, Body Central, Pro Image Sports and food court eateries Italia Express, Tobu Oriental Eatery and Smoothie Paradise.

A recent string of media reports has focused on major retailers that track customers who return merchandise. While the plaintiffs’ bar and the media are seeking to transform return monitoring into a headline-grabbing consumer privacy issue, the practice is hardly new, it is certainly justified as an anti-fraud measure and any litigation or compliance risk should be mitigated by appropriate disclosures.

Canton, Mass. – Dunkin’ Donuts plans to develop three new restaurants throughout northern Colorado, in the surrounding areas of Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley, Windsor, and Estes Park. The first restaurant is expected to open in 2015 and the remainder by 2017.

New franchisees Doug Patterson and Cameron Stapleton signed a multi-unit development agreement. Stapleton will manage and oversee the company's daily operations for each restaurant. Franchise opportunities in the state are still available in Colorado Springs.

Earlier this year, quick-serve behemoth Dunkin’ Brands, which operates 10,500 Dunkin’ Donuts in 31 countries and 7,000 Baskin Robbins in 50 countries, announced its first new store design in seven years.

Former Walmart executive Mark Trowbridge has joined supply chain technology provider Park City Group as one of the firm’s senior advisors.

Trowbridge spent 16 years at Walmart where he launched the Neighborhood Market store and a merchant leadership rogram to recruit and train buyers, according to a press release announcing his new role at Park City Group. He still lives in Bentonville. Trowbridge’s new responsibilities include developing business solutions, consulting and expanding efforts in the retail channel.

New York – Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th has launched an e-commerce site that gives shoppers visibility and accessibility to shop for items that may have limited distribution and only in select stores nationwide.
    
In addition, the e-commerce site will offer customers access to Salon Z, a plus-size women’s program not available in all stores.

Alexander Rink, CEO of price intelligence solutions provider 360pi, recently spoke with Chain Store Age to discuss the importance of accurate pricing data to retail success. By obtaining timely internal and external pricing information, retailers can ensure a consistent omnichannel customer experience and also prevent the loss of sales to lower-priced competitors.

What are the advantages of having up-to-date pricing information on your competitors?