EQUITY RETAIL BLOG

'Marty' the Giant Food Store robot tried to escape a PA store

A post of Marty the Giant Food Store robot escaping into the parking lot went viral earlier this week. It (or is it he or she?) apparently made a run for it from its home in the Northampton, PA store. Marty roamed the parking lot for a little while until a human Giant employee (as […]

Major Developer Announces Second Project in Philly

One of the nation’s largest student housing developers and investors plans to build its second project near two Philadelphia universities. The first development is set to open this fall. According to a recent Costar.com article, one of the largest developers and investors of student housing is planning a second project in Philadelphia (near the University […]

Wawa planning travel centers near major highways

Earlier this month Wawa revealed plans to open non-traditional travel centers in existing markets as well as new markets like North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio in the coming years. Wawa CEO Chris Gheysens said the locations will offer long-distance travelers more options for where they can refuel and get a snack. “Think of […]

Amazon putting the brakes on Amazon Fresh supermarkets

Amazon said it was pausing the rollout of its Amazon Fresh supermarkets, and after assessing its portfolio of Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores, the company plans to “exit certain stores with low growth potential.” It’s not clear yet how many operating stores will close and how many planned stores will be abandoned. There are currently […]

Wakefern testing frictionless checkout technology

Wakefern, the grocery cooperative that includes ShopRite, Price Rite and Fairway Market, announced last week that it opened an autonomous convenience store with frictionless checkout technology at its corporate headquarters in Edison, NJ. The store, called The Pantry, is a pilot to test the artificial intelligence-based technology from Trigo, an Israeli company that provides grocery […]

Why Retailers Will Continue To Open Stores in 2023

According to a recent Forbes article, last year was a great year for retail real estate! By Q3, vacancy rates were down to 4.3% (one of the lowest rates in decades), driven by retail space demand and a scarcity of new development. Many new stores opened while mature brands continued to expand. Of course, the […]

Walmart and Aldi are most trusted grocery brands; ShopRite ranks high in the Northeast

According to the fifth annual grocery edition of its Most Trusted Awards, BrandSpark, in partnership with Newsweek and Winsight Grocery Business, found that Walmart is the most trusted conventional grocer in the United States and Aldi is the most trusted discount and small format grocer in the country. BrandSpark surveyed over 10,000 Americans in an […]

Plans for ShopRite in Atlantic City are dead

According to published reports, ShopRite will not be coming to Atlantic City, NJ. After more than a year of talks with ShopRite Operator Village Super Market, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) suspended negotiations. There had been little progress at the construction site since a groundbreaking ceremony in late 2021. Mayor Marty Small, Sr. told […]

Dollar stores gaining on traditional supermarkets

Dollar stores are well positioned to increase their share of the total U.S. grocery sales market, according to a report released earlier this month by Coresight Research. The report states that in the last three months, more than one in five consumers consistently reported visiting dollar stores to buy groceries. In addition, Dollar General and […]

Grocery stocks outperformed the overall market in 2022

Although stock prices of publicly-traded food retailers had mixed results last year, most fared better than the overall market. Grocery stocks were stronger in the first half of the year compared to the second, as inflation and economic worries pushed stocks downward. In 2022 the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 8.9%, the S&P 500 lost […]