Sales & Marketing

Chain Store Age recently spoke with Daphne Carmeli, CEO of Deliv, to get her perspective on what’s going on in the rapidly growing online delivery space.

What is driving growing consumer interest in online delivery?
We’ve got a bunch of players in the industry who are aggregating inventory in a simple, flexible and cost-effective way for last-mile fulfillment. Companies like Amazon and Google are resetting customer expectations of what’s possible.

Whole Foods Market has chosen a fast-casual vegan eatery as the first partner in its “Friends of 365” program to allow like-minded, innovative businesses to establish their own independent retail spaces in 365 by Whole Foods Market stores.

The retailer announced that by Chloe will be part of the first 365 location, which is scheduled to open in late May in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. It will be the plant-based vegan brand’s first location outside of New York City.

Whole Foods Market and online delivery service Instacart have big plans to make it easier for consumers nationwide to receive home deliveries from the nation’s leading retailer of natural and organic products.
 

Party City on Thursday posted an increase in same-store sales and profit for the fourth quarter and said it is on track to expand its footprint this year.

But it also cautioned that sales may slow.

Party City reported a profit of $86.5 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, up from $79 million a year earlier. On a per-share basis, earnings declined to 72 cents from 83 cents.

Total revenue slipped 2.8% to $781.5 million. Same-store sales increased 2.8%, fueled by a strong Halloween season.

An unusual and dramatically-lit exterior adds to the excitement at Jordan’s Furniture’s new store in New Haven, Connecticut. It also signals to passers-by that Jordan’s is not your typical furniture store — not by a longshot.

Amazon will be promoting its growing portfolio of original content available to Prime members on 20,000 movies screens after reaching a multi-year agreement with National CineMedia.

Michael Reed has been promoted to VP real estate for Stater Bros. Markets.  
 
Reed joined Stater Bros. in 2014 as senior director of real estate, a position he held until his recent promotion. He will report to president and CEO Pete Van Helden.

Prior to Stater Bros., Reed served as real estate store development manager for Starbucks where he was responsible for growing the company’s Mid-West and Western Mountain regions.  

Stater Bros. operates 168 supermarkets in California.

Houston -- Baker Katz announced that construction on an 8,000-sq.-ft. building that is 100% leased to AT&T, Frost Bank and Chipotle is underway.

Baker Katz acquired this property last year with plans to revamp the property into a multi-tenant destination. The property is located in Houston, Texas at the intersection of I-10 East and Haden Road in business district and ship channel area.