WASHINGTON — Retail sales in May declined 0.3% as Americans spent less on motor vehicles and discretionary items, according to the Commerce Department. Lower gasoline prices contributed to last month’s decline. Stores selling consumer electronics and appliances posted their largest month-on-month declines in seven years. Excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, retail sales
ARLINGTON, Va. — Grocery shoppers want “a clear and honest experience” with their food, according to the Food Marketing Institute (FMI). And to guarantee such an experience, shoppers are demanding transparency from players all along the food supply chain, FMI said in its “2017 U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends” report, presented at the FMI Future Leaders
SUMMERVILLE, S.C. — BJ’s Wholesale Club marked its expansion into South Carolina with the grand opening of its Summerville store earlier this month. The foray into South Carolina enlarges the company’s footprint to 215 clubs in 16 states. The Summerville Club is located in Summerville’s primary retail corridor. The new club in Summerville could save
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In June 2016, the first Fresco y Más opened in Hialeah, Fla. This month, to celebrate that occasion, the Hispanic-themed store unveiled seven new locations, bringing the number of stores to 18. Adding to the milestone, Southeastern Grocers LLC, parent company of Fresco y Más, as well as BI-LO, Harveys and Winn-Dixie
GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. — Dollar General officials were joined earlier this month by local dignitaries, including House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), at a grand opening ceremony for the retailer’s 14th distribution center, in Ryan’s hometown of Janesville, Wis. Dollar General invested about $100 million in the facility, creating more than 500 local jobs, according to
CHICAGO — An expanding economy and a growing middle class make India the developing country that is most promising for retail development, according to the latest Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) from management consulting firm A.T. Kearney Inc. Recent changes in the regulatory environment is another factor cited by Kearney for placing India atop its
It begins to look like the chain drug industry will toil through 2017 much as it did last year. In other words, Walgreens Boots Alliance’s acquisition of Rite Aid Corp. will likely not happen. This comes as a surprise to many industry people, despite overwhelming evidence that the federal government has long viewed this alliance
In some respects, Amazon is a hard company to categorize. When it opened for business a little over two decades ago it was an online seller of books. Since then Amazon has, among other things, expanded its e-commerce platform to include a broad spectrum of consumer products; launched a line of electronic readers, tablets and
BOISE, Idaho — What Albertsons Cos. has been able to accomplish in a little over a decade is truly remarkable. The prospects for the business were somewhat uncertain when it was established in June 2006. A group of investors led by Cerberus Capital Management created the company by purchasing 661 supermarkets as part of the
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Walmart has “started to invent the future of shopping again,” president and chief executive officer Doug McMillon said at the company’s annual shareholders meeting this month. “Together, we’re building a new Walmart,” McMillon told more than 14,000 associates from the U.S. and around the world at the University of Arkansas. “We’re going
NEW YORK — Lidl, the latest German discount supermarket chain to looking to gain a foothold in the U.S. grocery market, will open the first nine of 20 locations on the East Coast on June 15. The company announced plans for ribbon-cutting ceremonies followed by four-day grand-opening celebrations at each of the nine stores. Five
CINCINNATI — Kroger Co. has announced the retirement of Sukanya Madlinger, senior vice president of retail divisions. Madlinger will be succeeded by Calvin Kaufman, president of the company’s Louisville division. Ann Reed was promoted to succeed Kaufman. Reed has been serving as vice president of Customer 1st Promise, overseer of the “Customer 1st Strategy” Kroger