EQUITY RETAIL BLOG

Safeway stock price rises on acquisition speculation

Genuardi’s parent company Safeway saw its stock rise 7.5% last week, its largest one-week rally since 2009, on speculation of a possible acquisition. With nearly 1,700 stores, Safeway is one of the country’s largest supermarket operators. The acquisition talk was triggered by Safeway’s adoption of a vesting acceleration that may require executives to remain with […]

Dollar Tree adds pharmacy to FL store

Dollar General has a grocery concept, and now Dollar Tree has a store with a pharmacy. Dollar Tree recently contracted with an independent pharmacy based in Boca Raton, FL, to add a location inside a Deals stores in West Park, FL. (Deals is a Dollar Tree variety store concept.) Although there are people who have […]

New prototype Wawa under development for Florida

Wawa CEO Howard Stoeckel said recently that the company’s stores scheduled to open this year in Florida will resemble a restaurant that sells gas, rather than a convenience store, as we are accustomed to in Pennsylvania and Delaware. The new store prototype will be built around fast-casual food and convenience, and will feature an array of […]

Supervalu lost $1 billion in fiscal year, CEO is pleased with overall results

Supervalu (Acme, Save-A-Lot) reported earlier this week that it lost $424 million in the fourth quarter (which ended February 25), compared with a gain of $95 million for the same period last year. However, the news is good for some, as the company’s results beat Wall Street’s expectations. More news (good or bad, depending on how you […]

Pink Slime is gone, and so are thousands of workers

Up until recently, we’ve all been fine eating lean finely textured beef (LFTB). Dubbed as “pink slime” in 2002 by Gerald Zirnstein, then a USDA scientist, we’ve been eating it for years with no reported cases of foodborne illness due to its consumption. In fact, the USDA says it’s safe. Everything changed earlier this year. It’s […]

Wegmans, Trader Joe's top Consumer Reports survey for best supermarket

A Consumer Reports survey released today ranks Wegmans as the top supermarket in the country, based on feedback from 24,203 readers. Wegmans has 79 stores in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland and Virginia. The top five stores are as follows: 1. Wegmans 2. Trader Joe’s 3. Publix 4. Fareway Stores 5. Costco Customers […]

Best Buy Closing Stores

Best Buy plans to close 50 of its stores (Approx. 3.6%), eliminate 400 corporate jobs, and reduce costs by $800 million.   Business Week Article

Modell's Going for 5 More NYC Stores

They are going toe to toe with the competition….See The Real Deal article for more. Fresh off opening three metro-area stores this month, sporting good retailer Modell’s is planning to add five New York City stores this year, Crain’s reported, as the family-owned store tries to keep its expanding rivals at bay. “We want to […]

A&P gets B- rating from S&P

In assigning newly reorganized and private company A&P a B- credit rating and negative outlook last week, Standard and Poor’s said the company should be able to maintain adequate liquidity and improve its overall performance in the coming years, but will still lag competitors’ operating metrics and be vulnerable to sales declines and a slow […]

ShopRite workers approve new labor agreement

We’re used to reading about problems between supermarket chains and their unionized employees, just as we’re used to reading about ShopRite’s success and climb to supremacy in the Greater Philadelphia Region. So, it should come as no surprise that 24,000 workers at ShopRite and Stop & Shop stores in New York and New Jersey represented […]