EQUITY RETAIL BLOG

Small format plans get bigger for Walmart

Walmart announced last week that it plans to open 270-300 new Neighborhood Market and Walmart Express stores in the next year. Late last year it had announced that they would open only 120-150 of the small format stores (Walmart to accelerate small format growth). The forecast for 115 new supercenters remains unchanged. The existing 346 […]

Whole Foods closing in on $1,000 in sales per square foot

Whole Foods announced earlier this month that its stores generated an average of $983 in annual sales per square foot (PSF) in 2013. According to statistics published by the Food Marketing Institute, the average sales PSF for supermarkets in the United States is $360 (based on a median total store size of 46,000 and median weekly […]

Jonathan Weis named Weis Markets President and CEO

Jonathan Weis was named President and CEO of Weis Markets, following in his father Robert’s footsteps. Robert currently serves as Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors. Jonathan Weis has been with the company since 1989 and has served in a number of roles, most recently as interim CEO, and Vice Chairman and Corporate Secretary. […]

ShopRite to open in Lower Makefield, PA

Nearly three years after Super Fresh closed its doors at Oxford Oaks Shopping Center in Lower Makefield, PA (Bucks County), ShopRite announced that it will gut and renovate the 57,000 square foot space and open later this year. ShopRite of Hunterdon County, which operates three stores in New Jersey, will own and operate the new store, and has plans […]

Safeway confirms that it may sell

In October I wrote about a published report that claimed Cerberus was looking into a takeover of all or part of Safeway. Yesterday Safeway confirmed that discussions were taking place involving a possible sale of the company. In a statement, the company said it “has not reached an agreement on a transaction, and there can […]

Reporter uncovers reasons for Costco's success

President Obama visited a Costco in Maryland yesterday to shake hands with people and do whatever else Presidents do when they visit the suburbs and stop traffic. On a related note, Harriet Edleson from US News & World Report spoke recently with a number of Costco members, company executives and retail analysts to get the inside […]

Giant donates $5 million to new CHOP center in Philly

It was announced last week that Giant Food Stores is providing the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) with a $5 million gift for its Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care, an outpatient center scheduled to open next year. The entrance to the Buerger Center will be named the “Giant Lobby.” At 9,000 square feet, it […]

Save-A-Lot posts solid third quarter as sales continue to rise

Supervalu announced last week that Save-A-Lot continued to see improved results in the company’s fiscal third quarter. Identical-store sales at corporately-owned Save-A-Lot stores rose 5.4%, lifting overall identical-store sales to a 1.7% gain. Operating income rose 48% to $27 million, which the company largely attributed to cost reductions made earlier in the year. Overall sales […]

Acme to close Westtown and Exton supermarkets

Among the 26 stores Albertsons plans to close by February 20 are Acme stores in Westtown and Exton, PA. The announcement came yesterday by Albertsons, owner of the Acme supermarket chain. In both Pennsylvania stores, the leases are coming to an end and will not be renewed. Acme, once the Greater Philadelphia market leader, currently operates 122 […]

MOM's Organic Market to open first PA store in Bryn Mawr

MOM’s Organic Market, which operates 10 small-format organic food stores in the Baltimore/Washington area, plans to open its first Pennsylvania location in Bryn Mawr’s Rosemont Square. At 17,000 square feet, it will be MOM’s largest store and will include an all-organic cafe called Naked Lunch. Rosemont Square, once home to Borders bookstore, has been undergoing […]