EQUITY RETAIL BLOG

Stop & Shop to buy 5 Foodtown stores in New Jersey

Stop & Shop and Foodtown said they have a tentative deal that will result in the sale of five New Jersey Foodtown stores, currently owned by Norkus Enterprises, to Stop & Shop later this spring. Stop & Shop is a division of Ahold, which also owns Giant. The Foodtown stores are in Freehold Township, Manalapan, […]

Boston neighborhood doesn't want Whole Foods

Whenever my friends and neighbors talk to me about vacant supermarkets, they inevitably ask if there’s a chance for a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. So, a story from the Boston neighborhood of Jamaica Plains caught my eye. Although I don’t know the details, it’s clear that there is strong opposition to Whole Foods. Whole […]

Sam Martin has "embedded a strong burning imperative" at A&P

I stumbled on a blog at Forbes.com by George Bradt called “The New Leaders Playbook.” The March 16 blog entry below is the result of Bradt’s interview with A&P CEO Sam Martin and the process Martin is going through to turn around the troubled grocer. Among other things, the author credits Martin with successfully accomplishing […]

Walmart to break ground on small stores

According to Bloomberg, Walmart will begin construction next week on a 14,400 square foot store in Gentry, Arkansas (20 miles from its headquarters). Work on two similar stores in Arkansas will begin in the next two weeks, and Walmart may open as many as 40 smaller stores this year in rural and urban areas. The […]

"Grocery is the next frontier" for malls

The following article from Bloomberg is one of many recent stories to report that malls are adding grocery stores in an effort to lure back shoppers. Younger readers (and this graying blogger) may not recall that, as the article points out, supermarkets were once tenants in many American shopping centers. However, they fled to cheaper […]

CNBC highlights the supermarket business in 60-minute TV special

In late January CNBC aired “Supermarkets Inc.,” a stat-filled, behind-the-scenes, 60-minute special on the $550 billion industry that is the American supermarket. (I watched it last night, thanks to TIVO!) The show spent a considerable amount of time at a Giant Eagle Market District store outside of Pittsburgh, which, at 150,000 square feet and with […]

Big boxes don't want to be so big anymore

The Wall Street Journal article below reports on a number of traditional big box stores that are shifting to smaller stores, and in many cases, finding other products or businesses to take some of their space. For instance:   A Rockford, IL dental clinic rented space in two area Kmarts last year; Sears rented 34,000 […]

Giant parent, Ahold, to be a player in the U.S. acquisitions market

The story below from Supermarket News amounts to Ahold (Giant) serving notice that it plans to be a bigger player in the United States in the next few years. ‘Things Are Happening’ in Acquisitions Market: Ahold

Blackstone to buy Centro's 588 U.S. shopping centers

The Wall Street Journal story below outlines the $9.4 billion deal that will transfer ownership of 588 shopping centers from Centro Properties Group to Blackstone Group. Blackstone wins bidding for Centro’s U.S. assets

Target Sets More Food Expansion

Target announced yesterday that it plans to add its “Pfresh” grocery section to 380 more stores this year. In 2010, Target added 341 grocery sections to its stores. The company also announced plans to open its first small urban format – “City Target” – in 2012 in Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. Here’s […]