Distribution

Meijer is incenting customers to make generous donations to hunger relief organizations by offering to double their contributions.

As part of the retailer’s Simply Give hunger relief program, plans call for Meijer to contribute $20 every time a customer donates $10 resulting in a combined $30 donation to local food pantries. The company conducts its Simply Given campaign three times a year. The Spring effort runs through May 7 but the generous matching offer is good April 17-18.

Shoppers looking for Swedish mustard or cheap bathroom rugs won’t have to ask themselves “Why isn’t there an Ikea in Las Vegas?” for very much longer.

The Swedish home furnishings retailer, along with Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, Clark County Board of Commissioners Chair Steve Sisolak, Clark County District F Commissioner Susan Brager, U.S. Congressman Joe Heck, local officials and community leaders on-hand, officially broke ground this week for a future Ikea in Las Vegas.

Deerfield, Ill. — Walgreens Boots Alliance on Thursday reported quarterly earnings for the first time since the December 2014 merger of Walgreen Co. and Alliance Boots GmbH. The announcement included the news that the drug store retailer will close about 200 U.S. stores as part of its previously announced three-year, $1 billion cost-reduction plan.

Washington, D.C. -- Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to rise 8% this month over the same time last year as West Coast ports continue to recover from a backlog of cargo that built up before a tentative new labor agreement was signed, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released Wednesday by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.



After reporting standout results for the holiday quarter, Costco had a drop in same store sales in March that the retailer blamed on the earlier-than-normal Easter holiday.

New York -- Tiger, the Danish discount chain known for its low prices and design emphasis, is entering the United States, opening a 5,000-sq.-ft. flagship in May, in New York City.

Tiger stores offer a quirky, ever-changing selection of exclusive products across a wide variety of categories, including home, toys, hobby, party, snacks, electronics, gadgets, fashion accessories and seasonal. The majority of its products, roughly half of which are designed in house, sell for $10 or less.

Cincinnati – The Kroger Co. is reportedly planning to close and rebrand some stores operating under the Harris-Teeter banner in Tennessee. According to the Nashville Tennesseean, Kroger will close four Harris-Teeter stores it operates in Nashville by June 2015.

Three of those stores will reopen under the Kroger banner. Kroger previously closed a Harris-Teeter location in Nashville, but has not yet rebranded any Harris-Teeter stores. Kroger purchased the Harris-Teeter grocery chain for $2.4 billion in January 2014.
 

Rite Aid said higher prescription sales and stronger cost control helped the drugstore chain report a profit surge for the fourth quarter.

New York – Japanese retailer Uniqlo continues its U.S. expansion with plans open its first-ever stores in the Seattle, Denver and Washington, D.C., metro areas.

In the state of Washington, the retailer will open a 13,000-sq.-ft. location at Seattle’s The Bellevue Collection this fall. In spring/summer 2015, the retailer will open a 10,000-sq.-ft. store at Tyson's Corner Center, and a 22,000-sq.-ft. store on Denver's 16th Street, at The Denver Pavilions.

City of Commerce, Calif. – 99 Cents Only Stores is opening nine new stores in California between April 9 and April 11. The stores will be located in the communities of San Luis Obispo, Ontario, Sonora, Santee, Escondido, Tustin, San Bernardino, Cypress and South El Monte.

99 Cents Only currently operates 384 stores located in California, Texas, Arizona & Nevada.