365 by Whole Foods Market’s first Texas location will open at 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 26, in Cedar Park, following a bread-breaking ceremony with company officials and the community. It is the fourth 365 store nationwide; others are open in Bellevue, Washington; Lake Oswego, Oregon; and Los Angeles, California. The 30,000-s.f. Cedar Park store, at 5001 183A […]
Category: Store News
Kroger Promotes Colón To Senior Director Of Diversity
The Kroger Co.’s Angel Colón has been promoted to senior director of diversity. He has been serving as the company’s director of multicultural development for merchandising since 2008. Colon succeeds Rueben Shaffer, who retired at the end of March, as Kroger’s head of diversity and also assumes the responsibilities for the company’s strong supplier diversity […]
Food City Building New Store To Replace Existing Middlesboro, Kentucky, Unit
Food City is building a new store in Middlesboro, Kentucky. The 56,300-s.f. supermarket will serve as a replacement unit and be located just behind the existing store. The project is expected to be completed by late fall. “We are excited to have the opportunity to bring a new state-of-the-art Food City to Middlesboro,” said Food […]
Walmart Opens 100th Training Academy In The U.S.
Walmart hosted grand opening festivities at its 100th training academy in the U.S. Monday, at 1225 West I-35 Frontage in Edmond, Oklahoma. Walmart training academies were introduced in 2016 and have expanded to 40 states. “Everything we do begins with our associates,” said Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores. “That’s why we have […]
Hy-Vee Restructure Focuses On IT, Healthful Foods And Restaurant Development
Hy-Vee says it has restructured several corporate departments to allow the supermarket chain to grow in three key areas—IT, HealthMarkets and restaurant development. In the upcoming weeks, the company reports that it will add nearly 70 new positions to its corporate staff. More than 50 new full-time positions will be IT based and work at […]
Florida IGA Operator Expands Online Services With Freshop
Freshop Inc., providing solutions for online grocery shopping, list building and fulfillment, recently launched an online grocery site for Mt. Plymouth IGA in Sorrento, Florida. With the Freshop site, the store is able to offer the conveniences of list building and online ordering to its customers. Mt. Plymouth IGA, which has developed a reputation based on […]
WinCo Opening First Oklahoma Store In May, Two More In The Works
WinCo Foods plans to open its first Oklahoma store in late May in Moore. The 84,000-s.f. unit will be followed by an Oklahoma City store in August and a Tulsa store in 2018. The Moore location will be open 24/7. It will be staffed by full- and part-time employees from the surrounding community. The store […]
Meijer Fleet Driver’s Career Spans More Than 5 Million Miles In 45 Years
When Paul Strodtbeck became a Meijer fleet driver in 1972, he joined a team of 34 drivers who made daily deliveries to the retailer’s 24 stores in Michigan. Gas cost 36 cents per gallon, and Strodtbeck drank “two gallons too much of coffee” while listening to “twangy” country music. Much has changed in the past […]
H-E-B Marks 100,000-Employee Milestone
San Antonio-based H-E-B’s employee count across Texas and Mexico now totals 100,000, confirming the grocery chain’s position as the largest privately held employer in the state of Texas and one of the largest privately held retailers in the nation. H-E-B employs more than 90,000 people in 332 Texas stores and more than 10,000 people in […]
Tehachapi Save Mart Is Banner’s Sixth Store To Include Brand Refresh
Save Mart hosted a grand reopening Thursday at its store in Tehachapi, California. The celebration marked the culmination of a months-long transformation that modernized the store both on the inside and outside, including the logo. “The interior looks amazing. You’ll want to shop all day here. We’re offering more products and services that today’s families […]
Shipt’s Harris Teeter Delivery Expansion Includes Beer And Wine
Online grocery delivery service Shipt is expanding to the Research Triangle region of North Carolina through delivery from Harris Teeter. Beginning April 20, Shipt members in the Raleigh and Durham areas will gain access to beer and wine selections in addition to groceries from the supermarket chain. With the expansion, Shipt will be able to deliver to […]
Raley’s Opens New Store In Sacramento’s Campus Commons/Arden Neighborhood
Raley’s hosted a grand opening Wednesday of its new, state-of-the-art store at Fair Oaks Boulevard and Howe Avenue in Sacramento. It marks the first of five new stores the company plans to open in the next 18 months. Located in the established Campus Commons/Arden neighborhood, the 35,000-s.f. store offers customers an assortment of fresh, high-quality […]
Walmart ‘Aggressively’ Expanding Grocery Pickup As It Also Rolls Out Online Discount
Walmart is “aggressively” expanding its Online Grocery Pickup Service, according to Mark Lore, president and CEO of Walmart U.S. e-commerce. Lore says on the company’s website that the service is now in 600 stores with an additional 500 coming this year. That news comes as Lore also reveals that, beginning April 19, Walmart will begin […]
Metropolitan Market Gets New CEO
Metropolitan Market has named Ron Megahan CEO. The Seattle-based grocer says that Megahan, previously the company’s COO, has been an instrumental part of the executive leadership team for the past two years and worked closely with Todd Korman, who previously held the chief executive position. Korman remains an active company shareholder and will serve as […]
Walt Churchill’s Market Marking 100th Anniversary As It Eyes Ohio Expansion
Walt Churchill’s Market (WCM) will celebrate 100 years of serving the Toledo, Ohio, community on Saturday, April 15. This year also may mark another milestone, as the two-store operator looks to perhaps open a third store and fill “a gourmet food niche once occupied by The Andersons,” according to The Toledo Blade. The Churchill family […]
Miami Development Addition Will Include New Whole Foods Market Alongside Existing Target
A new ground-up development addition in Miami, Florida, called Pinecrest Place will be anchored by a 46,000-s.f. Whole Foods Market store. The development will add 70,000 s.f. to a retail space that already includes a 173,000-s.f. Target. Construction on the $16.4 million project is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2018. “Pinecrest Place […]
Whole Foods Market Investor Reportedly Wants Chain To Consider A Possible Sale
Is Whole Foods Market being primed for a takeover? Perhaps. The Wall Street Journal and CNBC report that activist investor Jana Partners has built a nearly 9 percent stake in the Austin, Texas-based grocery chain and wants the company to “speed up its turnaround efforts while also exploring a possible sale.” “The activist investor has […]
Ralphs, Gelson’s Women Execs Share Their Histories And Wisdom
The Food Industries Sales Managers’ Club of Los Angeles (FISMC) fittingly held its Women in the Food Industry Luncheon during March, which is Women’s History Month. Cynthia Weifenbach of CLW Consulting, chair of FISMC, emceed the event, during which Valerie Jabbar, president of Ralphs Grocery Co., and Hee-Sook Nelson, VP of team development and public […]
Convenience Stores Hit Record In-Store Sales In 2016
U.S. convenience stores experienced record in-store sales of $233.0 billion in 2016—as well as their third straight year of $10 billion-plus in pretax profits—according to newly released “NACS State of the Industry” data, which provides benchmarks and key performance category insights for the convenience and fuel retailing industry. Convenience stores, which sell more than 80 […]
Supervalu 2017 National Expo Plans Announced
Supervalu has unveiled plans for its fourth annual National Expo, which will be held July 25-27 at the RiverCentre in St. Paul, Minnesota. The event will feature a day of educational seminars and workshops tailored to help independent grocery retailers serve their customers better, as well as access to more than 300 vendors across nearly […]
