EQUITY RETAIL BLOG

SRO for "Wegmans... The Musical" in Boston suburb

About six months after Wegmans opened in Northborough, MA, which is about 40 miles east of Boston,  the town played host to “Wegmans… The Musical!” The show, written and performed by students at Algonquin Regional High School, opened last Thursday to a standing-room-only crowd of 900. It also closed, as it was a one-night-only production. […]

New Store Announcements (February, March, & April)

It’s been a while since I posted this list, but we have been tracking the store openings in the background.  Business has been crazy busy lately, but Melissa from my office has helped keep it accurate and up to date.  Many thanks to her.   It’s strange how things work out.  I have historically posted […]

Sears Holdings Sells 11 Stores to General Growth

Sears is selling 11 stores in Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Washington are being sold to General Growth which will raise between $400 and $500 million. Bloomberg Business Week Article

42 Best Buys Closing

Here’s the list of stores from Best Buy’s web site…. Best Buy Web Site List

Whole Foods reports "best results in history"

Last week Whole Foods Market reported another outstanding quarter, “producing the best results in our company’s 32-year history,” according to Co-CEO John Mackey. For the quarter ended April 8, 2012, Whole Foods reported a profit of $117.7 million, a 31% increase over the same quarter last year. They also reported the following: Sales up 14% […]

Weis posts strong earnings, Bottom Dollar exceeding expectations

Weis Markets said yesterday that improvements in store productivity and cost controls contributed to net earnings of $20 million for its fiscal first quarter, an increase of 7.7% compared to the same period last year. In addition, sales increased 0.3% to $661.6 million, and comparable store sales improved by almost 1%. On the other hand, […]

Experts weigh in on Target's PFresh model

Tuesday’s Supermarket News story on the impact of Target’s PFresh food sections, which are in 875 Target stores and typically cover about 17,000 square feet, quoted several industry experts. Here’s a sampling: From Neil Stern, managing partner, McMillan Doolittle (Chicago): – “The way Target has set up PFresh allows it to talk about a grocery offering […]

Cap rates for grocery-anchored centers in low 6% range

A recent story on RetailTrafficMag.com stated that “with scores of institutional buyers looking for quality assets in primary markets, competition for class A centers is fierce and top-tier grocery-anchored shopping centers are now trading at cap rates in the low 6 percent range, while cap rates for core malls have sometimes dipped below 5 percent,” according […]

Weis to invest $125 million in store growth program

Weis Markets reported last week that it will invest $125 million in store growth this year, including two new stores and several major remodels. The investment represents a 25% increase over 2011. According to the company, the ongoing renovation program has reached approximately two-thirds of Weis’ 159 stores so far, and has contributed to sales […]

Safeway: net income increase, expects $67M gain from Genuardi's sale

Earlier this week Genuardi’s parent company Safeway reported an increase in net income for the first quarter of 2012. In addition to Genuardi’s, Safeway operates stores under the Vons, Dominick’s and Safeway banner, among others.   The company earned $72.9 million in the three months ended March 24, compared to $25.1 million during the same […]