Supply Chain & Merchandising

SEATTLE -- Recreational Equipment Inc. announced that Sue Sallee joined the company in the newly created position of VP accounting and finance. The company has also promoted Angela Owen, Tim Spangler and Tom Vogl to SVPs  of the merchandising, retail, and marketing divisions respectively.

Retailer demand for new locations is up across the board, according to ChainLinks Retail Advisors’ just-released National Retailer and Restaurant Expansion Guide. The report details the current expansion plans for hundreds of the largest U.S. retail and restaurant chains.

“As 2010 came to a close, growth plans were up 30% from the levels we recorded last year,” said ChainLinks’ research director, Garrick Brown,/ Right now, expansion plans are up 40% over last year’s levels.”

Watchung, N.J. -- RAS Brokerage announced that it has secured a lease for Buffalo Wild Wings at BJ’s Shopping Center, located in Watchung, N.J.

Buffalo Wild Wings has signed a lease for a 5,856-sq.-ft. end-cap at the Vornado Realty Trust-owned center.

AMPAL Restaurant group d.b.a. Buffalo Wild Wings opened its first unit at the Monmouth Mall in 2010. The Watchung store will be its second and will open on March 7. 

RAS Brokerage is the restaurant division of Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based Fameco Real Estate, LP.

Profits at the nation’s largest pet specialty chain surged 26% during the fourth quarter as same-store sales advanced 6.3% and total sales grew 8.1% to $1.5 billion.

“Our third consecutive quarter of accelerating comparable transactions growth as well as a strong holiday performance led to better-than-expected results for the quarter,” said PetSmart president and CEO Bob Moran.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The nation’s largest automotive parts retailer announced another quarter of record results in which earnings per share advanced nearly 36% to $3.34 on same-store sales that grew 7.1% for the quarter ended Feb.12.

If Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2010 numbers were any indication, retail may well be prepping for some measurable bounce in 2011.

But the road to recovery isn’t going to be without frustrations, according to Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle’s North America Retail Outlook report, released in November.

The inaugural report examined retail real estate fundamentals such as vacancy levels, rental rates and investment sales volumes -- and drew the conclusion that 2011 would see a “slow and arduous retail sector recovery.”

By Akhilesh Srivastava, [email protected]
According to NRF Retail Horizons Benchmark Report, two key initiatives to keep retailers competitive in 2010 were optimization and streamlining of their internal operations to reduce operating costs and improving their customer centricity to win the share of wallet.

PITTSBURGH — A new leader has been named for a maker of shelf-stable seafood products.

StarKist named In-Soo Cho as president and CEO of the company. Prior to joining StarKist, Cho was the principal of his own consulting firm, Insight & Strategy, with a focus on consumer goods and the restaurant industry.

Cho will assume his new office on March 1.