News

Durham, North Carolina-based conglomerate The Guess Corp. is seeking to acquire at least 1,000 U.S. convenience store/ gas station units in the next 12 months.   Working through a subsidiary, the company is looking to acquire an average of 100 branded and unbranded units per month. Upon completion of the purchases, Guess Corp. intends to re-brand and renovate the properties with innovative and sleek designs and provide enhanced CRM technology. The company has invited brokers to provide buyer representation with higher commissions.

Specialty apparel retailer The Children’s Place Inc. is partnering with marketing and loyalty solutions provider Alliance Data Systems Corp. to launch a new private label credit card.  

Consumers are not skimping on back-to-school spending this year, and brick-and-mortar retailers have extra reason to celebrate.   The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) has released its annual back-to-school consumer survey results, finding an overall uptick in spending. The average back-to-school (BTS) shopper is expected to spend $657, with 78% expecting to spend more than the prior year.  

Results of the 2016 Harris Poll EquiTrend Retail Brands of the Year study show that some retail chains truly “get it” when it comes to engaging consumers.   Two retailers were named top brand in their respective categories for the fourth straight year. These are the Home Depot, which has been named hardware and home brand of the year. And Kohls.com, which has been named online department store brand of the year.  

As their merger enters the home stretch, Delhaize Group and Ahold have reached agreements with buyers to divest 86 U.S. stores.   The two international companies announced their intent to combine forces back in June 20115. The merger is set for completion at the end of July, pending final approval by the Federal Trade Commission.  

Ikea is expanding its renewable energy portfolio with state-of-the-art fuel cell technology.   Based on the success of its pilot installation, Ikea said it plans to install biogas-powered fuel cell systems at four more stores in California.  

Mobile commerce has become almost universal in the retail industry, but competency levels are less uniform.   According to a new study of 250 marketing and IT professionals, including 95 retailers, from digital solutions provider PointSource, “The State of the Mobile Experience,” 91% of retail companies have a mobile site and 84% have a mobile app.  

The advent of the back-to-school shopping season is expected to affect import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports.   According to the monthly Global Port Tracker report from the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates, import cargo volume will see a small, but significant, increase in July due to retailers stocking up for back-to-school shoppers. A larger wave of imports is expected to pass through U.S. ports in later summer and early fall as retailers prepare for the end-of-year holiday season.

The $11 billion purchase of Belgium-based supermarket operator Delhaize Group by Netherlands-based grocery conglomerate Ahold is coming closer.   The two companies both announced they expect the deal, approved by the shareholders of both companies in March 2016, to go through before the end of July 2016, subject to regulatory approval by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC).   

The mad dash to provide same-day delivery on the part of e-commerce players like Amazon is sapping warehouse space in the U.S. As a result, retailers should budget for higher leasing rates in the year ahead.