Retail

Boulder, Col. -- QuikTrip is the nation’s most popular convenience store, according to a new study by Market Force Information. QuikTrip was voted the most popular c-store chain among the more than 7,600 study participants, followed by Wawa, RaceTrac, Speedway and Arco/ampm.

New York -- Golfsmith International will open a two-story, 15,000-sq.-ft. store on Fifth Avenue, near 38th Street, in Manhattan.
   
The store, opening on Friday, June 7, features three state-of-the-art club fitting studios with simulators that enable customers to test drive the latest equipment with the same technology used to fit tour pros. The store also has an indoor putting green and technology bar with GPS units, range finders and a variety of high-tech gadgets.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens on Wednesday posted third-quarter sales of $18.3 billion, up 3.3%.

Same-store sales were up 1.3%, with front-end comparable store sales up by 0.3% and pharmacy comp sales up 2%. Prescriptions filled were up 7% for the quarter.

Walgreens reported that more than 72 million Walgreens faithful have signed on for the company's Balance Rewards loyalty program through May.

Dallas -- CBRE’s National Retail Investment Group arranged the sale of Bryan Towne Center to Lamar Cos. for an undisclosed amount. The 52,268-sq.-ft. retail center serves the Bryan-College Station metropolitan area in Texas.

Shadow-anchored by an adjacent Target store, the five-year-old center includes six acres of undeveloped land that can accommodate an additional 230,225-sq.-ft. of retail space, said CBRE.

The center is 66% occupied. Key tenants include Dollar Tree, Rack Room Shoes, Maurice’s and rue21.

Cincinnati -- Devin I. Murphy has joined Phillips Edison-ARC Shopping Center REIT Inc. (www.phillipsedison-arc.com) as CFO, treasurer and secretary.

“With over 25 years of experience in the real estate investment industry, including executive leadership positions with Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Devin brings significant experience to the company,” said Jeffrey Edison, co-chairman of the board and CEO.

San Jose, Calif. -- The majority (61%) of global consumers are open to shopping at a ‘self service’ fully automated store with vending machines and kiosk stations offering virtual customer service, according to a new survey by Cisco.

Detroit -- Whole Foods Market on Wednesday is scheduled to open a 21,506-sq.-ft. store in Detroit, in the city’s Midtown neighborhood. The store, which is smaller than the chain’s typical footprint, features an expanded lineup of private-label products and lower prices designed to appeal to more budget-conscious shoppers, according to various reports.

New York -- Specialty retailer Vera Bradley has helped boost the revenue and margins generated by its recently launched line of baby accessories by obtaining advance insight from consumers about what they would pay for certain products and also what features most interested them.