News

After a test, CVS Health is launching its mobile payment solution, CVS Pay, on a national basis.    CVS Pay is now part of the CVS Pharmacy mobile app, and integrates payment, prescription pickup and the ExtraCare loyalty program all into one quick scan at checkout.  

Amazon shoppers will have new venues where they can pick up and re-turn orders — local malls.   Washington Prime Group Inc. has entered into a partnership with Ama-zon to add self-service Amazon Lockers at 50 of its retail centers. The lockers, which are destinations where customers can pick up and return Amazon.com packages, will begin popping up as soon as next month.    

The past decade has witnessed a monumental shift in regulatory oversight of retailers’ environmental compliance programs. As a result, retailers have faced a crash course in the myriad hazardous waste control laws, once widely believed to not be relevant in the retail context.   Historically, most enforcement has been at the state and local level. But in just the past month, we’ve seen a flurry of retail-related activity from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, including the following:  

Supervalu Inc. posted disappointing sales results for its second quarter as the company continues to shift its business toward wholesale distribution.       The company released its second quarter results just days after it entered into an agreement to sell its Save-A-Lot discount grocery chain to Canadian private equity firm Onex for $1.37 billion in cash.   

Once the mecca of “Valley Girls” lured by white marble interiors and retailers like Saks and I. Magnin, the Promenade Mall in Warner Center north of Los Angeles will be razed and replaced by a $1.5 billion mixed-use development.   Westfield, owner of the 43-year-old, 550,000-sq.-ft. mall, has announced a re-imagination of the site in line with the Los Angeles City Council’s Warner Center 2035 plan to urbanize the area.  

Harris Teeter is no stranger to home delivery, but now more North Carolina-based shoppers can get their orders within an hour.   The grocer, a subsidiary of Kroger Co., is expanding its partnership with app-based grocery delivery service Shipt to get groceries into the hands of shoppers throughout the Charlotte metro area. The program, which was launched last year, was initially limited to the state’s Research Triangle region. This expansion extends the service to more than 50 Harris Teeter stores in the Charlotte area. 

Starbucks Corp. announced its most ambitious expansion plans to date for China, and also named its first CEO for the country.   Starbucks said it plans to double its store count in China, growing to 5,000 stores by 2021. Overseeing the expansion will be Belinda Wong, who has promoted from president to CEO of Starbucks China, effective immediately.   

Inefficient staffing processes and lack of adequate workforce engagement tools are causing retailers to leave money on the table.   That’s according to new survey by Workjam, which found that only 17% of retail managers feel their stores’ hourly associates are very motivated and engaged. As a result, 47% of the managers say at least 5% of their staff quit in an average three-month period.