Data & Analytics

New York City -- Tesco has installed wind turbines, each with a capacity of nearly 1 MW, at three of its grocery distribution centers.

The company installed two of the 90-meter, 800kW wind turbines at its distribution center near Newport in Wales, BusinessGreen reported. The other turbines are at two sites in England’s Midlands region.

New York City -- Optimism was in the air at Chain Store Age’s 47th annual SPECS conference, in Grapevine, Texas. Spirits were up, and so was attendance, dramatically so, among both the show’s attendees and exhibitors.

Dollar General maintained its momentum in 2010 by achieving record sales, profits and expansion and it’s looking like 2011 will bring more of the same. Last year, Dollar General opened 600 new stores and remodeled or relocated another 504 units to end its fiscal year on Jan. 28 with 9,372 stores. The additional square footage combined with a 4.9% same store sales increase enabled the company to grow total sales by 10.5% to roughly $13 billion.

Indianapolis -- The Finish Line said Thursday that its fourth-quarter profit rose 12% with strong same-store sales.

The company reported net income of $34.3 million in the quarter that ended Feb. 26, compared with $30.6 million a year earlier.

The Finish Line said that excluding a charge for writing down the value of stores.

Revenue rose 2.7% to $384.6 million. Same-store sales rose 4%.

The company said operating margins were 9% close to its goal of double-digit margins for the full year.

Beachwood, Ohio -- Developers Diversified Realty Corp. announced Friday it has furthered its commitment to risk management with the formalization of its Enterprise Risk Management Program.

The new program, according to Developers Diversified, is an integration of strategy, process, people and technology that promotes the identification, prioritization, ownership and management of the company's critical risks.

SALISBURY, N.C. -- Food Lion announced that one lucky MVP customer will win free groceries for a year.

Customers can scan their MVP cards once a day at the in-store coupon kiosks, and they will be entered for a chance to win free groceries. Customers also can instantly win one of more than 200,000 free national and private brand items starting today through April 19. Free items will be awarded in the form of a coupon on the customer's MVP Savings Center coupon sheet which must be redeemed on the day it is issued.

New York City -- Save Mart Supermarkets saved more than $8,000 on a high-efficiency LED lighting retrofit of store in Ripon, Calif., through a partnership with the EnergySmart Jobs program.

Save Mart is distinguished as one of the first participants in the federally-funded program, which is an initiative of Energy Upgrade California and is administered by PECI, San Francisco. It focuses on creating new jobs through the implementation of energy-saving upgrades that help commercial retailers lower their operating costs.

Dallas -- Alliance Data Systems Corp., a provider of loyalty and marketing solutions derived from transaction-rich, announced that its Canadian coalition loyalty business has signed a national agreement with The Children's Place Retail Stores.

The agreement provides for The Children's Place to participate as a national sponsor in the Canadian Air Miles Reward Program and issue reward miles across Canada. Previously, The Children's Place launched a seven-month Air Miles pilot initiative in Alberta and British Columbia.