{"id":4218,"date":"2014-09-12T15:02:46","date_gmt":"2014-09-12T15:02:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom.chainstoreguide.com\/?p=4218"},"modified":"2014-09-12T15:02:46","modified_gmt":"2014-09-12T15:02:46","slug":"industry-update-grocery-supermarket-convenience-stores-september-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/2014\/09\/industry-update-grocery-supermarket-convenience-stores-september-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Industry Update: Grocery, Supermarket &amp; Convenience Stores \u2013 September 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Personnel Updates<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Mark Retzloff has stepped down as <strong>Alfalfa\u2019s<\/strong> CEO. <strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Busch\u2019s Fresh Food Market<\/strong> has named Mike Brooks President and CEO.<\/p>\n<p><strong>C&amp;S Wholesale Grocers<\/strong> has appointed Joseph J. Schena CFO and Exec VP, effective 9\/28\/2014.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Haggen Inc<\/strong>. has announced that John Clougher has been named CEO.<\/p>\n<p><strong>K-VA-T Food Stores<\/strong>\u00a0has named Dan Glei as the company\u2019s VP of\u00a0Center Store.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Mi Pueblo Foods<\/strong> it has named Martin Cortes as its new CFO.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Golub Corporation<\/strong> has promoted Sean Weiss to Director of Business Intelligence and Pricing. Tracy Nolan has been hired as Senior VP and CIO.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Racetrac Petroleum Inc.\u2019<\/strong><strong>s <\/strong>company President, Max Lenker, announced that he will be retiring. <strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Financial:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Associated Wholesalers<\/strong> and its White Rose division have filed for bankruptcy, with plans to sell its assets. The company said it plans to hold an auction with <strong>C&amp;S Wholesale Grocers Inc.<\/strong> as the lead bidder.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Marathon Petroleum Corp.<\/strong> entered into a loan agreement with a group of lenders that will provide it with $700 million to help pay for<strong> Speedway LLC&#8217;s<\/strong> purchase of Hess Retail Holdings LLC.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Industry Insight<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bi-Lo Holdings LLC <\/strong>withdrew its IPO filling. <strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Instacart <\/strong>added <strong>Whole Foods Market<\/strong> to its delivery service in the Denver area.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kroger<\/strong> announced that it is hiring to fill an estimated 20,000 permanent positions in its supermarket divisions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Loblaw Cos.<\/strong> announced that its Real Canadian Superstore locations in Western Canada are now offering the Guiding Stars nutrition navigation program.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>MAPCO<\/strong> has teamed with PayPal to launch the MY MAPCO app, bringing customers a secure way to purchase gasoline using their mobile devices. <strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Shoppers Drug Mart <\/strong>will begin testing sales of fresh produce, meats and other food items in six Toronto stores.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Smart &amp; Final Stores Inc. <\/strong>filed for IPO.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Supervalu<\/strong> suffered a data breach that may have resulted in theft of customer payment card data.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stop &amp; Shop Supermarket Co<\/strong>., a division of Ahold USA celebrated its 100th birthday on 9\/6\/2014.<\/p>\n<p>As if 9\/12014, <strong>Whole Foods Market<\/strong> does not accept personal checks as payment in its Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas locations. The company also announced that it will be among one of the first companies to accept Apple Pay, a new mobile payment system for the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch devices that debuted Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mergers and Acquisitions<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>7-Eleven<\/strong> completed the conversion of Wilson Farms Stores.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aloha Petroleum Ltd.<\/strong> is working with Macquarie Capital to help it review its strategic alternatives, which could include selling the company.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CST Brands Inc<\/strong>. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire <strong>Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>After it was discovered that <strong>Danny\u2019s Family Companies<\/strong> owner, Daniel Hendon, was hiring illegal immigrants, the company is being sold to another convenience store chain as a plea deal.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP)<\/strong> has completed its acquisition of <strong>Susser Holdings Corp.<\/strong> for $1.8 billion. Susser\u00a0ceases to be a publicly traded company and its common stock has been discontinued on the\u00a0NYSE. <strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Gordy&#8217;s County Market<\/strong> announced that it has purchased three <strong>Our Town Fresh Markets<\/strong> from the Hegenbarth Food group. The stores are located in Arcadia, Galesville, and La Crosse, WI, and Gordy\u2019s will begin operating the stores 10\/20\/2014.<\/p>\n<p><strong>GreenAcres Market<\/strong> acquired <strong>Whole Foods Association<\/strong> in Wichita, KS, doubling the chains store\u2019s locations.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kehe Distributors<\/strong> has completed the acquisition of <strong>Nature\u2019s Best<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Kroger Co.<\/strong> completed its $237.7 million purchase of Vitacost.com.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Market Basket <\/strong>shareholders accepted former CEO Arthur T. Demoulas&#8217;s $1.5 billion offer. Demoulas and Class B shareholders will acquire the 50.5% of the company owned by Arthur S. Demoulas and Class A shareholders.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Spinx Co<\/strong>. has acquired seven convenience stores from 7-Eleven Inc.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Real Estate:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Aldi <\/strong>will reopen a remodeled Omaha, NE store.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Alimentation Couche-Tard<\/strong> announced that it plans to remodel 80-100 stores over the next year. <strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Balls Food Stores<\/strong> is launching a new grocery store concept, <strong>Payless Discount Foods,<\/strong> in Olathe, KS. <strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Casey&#8217;s General Stores Inc<\/strong>. has started building its second distribution center, which is scheduled to open in 2015.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Circle K Stores, Inc.<\/strong> has broken ground on its newest flagship prototype in Southern California. It is a 4,500-sq.-ft. convenience store offering fresh food, a gas station with eight fuel pumps, and a self-serve state-of-the-art carwash.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Coborn&#8217;s<\/strong> has announced it will build a new <strong>Cash Wise Foods<\/strong> store in the Oak Ridge development of West Fargo, ND. The location will include a grocery store, liquor store and convenience store with a car wash, and the stores will cover about 65,000-sq.-ft.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dahl&#8217;s Foods<\/strong> announced that will be closing a store in West Des Moines, IA and renovating two locations, one in West Des Moines and one in Des Moines. <strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Delhaize America <\/strong>put 66<strong> Bottom Dollar Foods <\/strong>discount stores up for sale. The stores are located in the Philadelphia, Lehigh Valley, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland areas.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Earth Fare <\/strong>opened a location in Jacksonville, FL.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Food Lion<\/strong> has finished remodeling 31 of its stores in the greater Wilmington, NC, market, and has announced plans to remodel 45 stores in Greenville.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Fresh Market<\/strong> has leased 23,000-sq.-ft. at The Village at Livingston in Livingston, NJ.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fresh Thyme Farmers Market <\/strong>will open a location in Grand Rapids, MI, and plans to open 4 stores in Detroit in 2016. \u00a0<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Giant Eagle Inc.<\/strong> has opened its 90,970-sq.-ft. Market District store in Grandview Yard in Columbus, OH.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Heinen&#8217;s <\/strong>opened its 20th store in Bannockburn, IL.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harris Teeter <\/strong>will invest $5.5 million to expand its Indian Trail, NC, distribution center by 50,000-sq.-ft. The company will begin expansion in October and plans to finish by July 2015.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hy-Vee<\/strong> plans to build two supermarkets in Lakeville and Maple Grove, MN.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jerry&#8217;s Enterprises <\/strong>will close two<strong> Rainbow Foods stores <\/strong>in November, including the St. Paul, MN location it purchased 4 months ago.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key Food Stores<\/strong> has opened its newest Key Fresh &amp; Natural location, on Amsterdam Ave in New York\u2019s Upper West Side.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kroger<\/strong> opened its largest Georgia location in North Athens. The store is 123,000-sq.-ft., and employs 450 associates.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mariano\u2019s Fresh Market<\/strong> opened its 23<sup>rd<\/sup> store in Oak Lawn, IL. The company also said it will open a store at a former Dominick\u2019s location in Naperville, IL.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Market Basket<\/strong> announced that it will open 2-5 stores in the upcoming year. The locations of the new stores will be in Revere, Attleboro, Littleton, Athol, and Plymouth, MA.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Natural Grocers <\/strong>plans to open a location in Portland, OR.<\/p>\n<p>Fox Bros.\u00a0<strong>Piggly Wiggly<\/strong>\u00a0will be opening a new store in Hartford, WI, later this year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RaceWay<\/strong> is selling 17 convenience stores with gasoline, including 4 locations in GA.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Roundy&#8217;s<\/strong> announced that it will be selling its Saukville store to <strong>Piggly Wiggly<\/strong> and plans to close three other Pick &#8216;n Save stores in Milwaukee and West Allis, WI.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Safeway <\/strong>announced that it<strong> <\/strong>will open a location in Sacramento, CA.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sprouts Farmers Market <\/strong>opened a location in Spring, TX. It announced that it plans to open its first store in Alabama in early 2015, as well as ten additional locations. The new locations will be in Bakersfield, CA; Birmingham and Huntsville, AL; Cumming, GA; Houston and Mansfield, TX; Kansas City, MO; Scottsdale, AZ; and South Jordan, UT.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Strauss Brands Inc. <\/strong>announced that it is expanding its Franklin, WI, operations by 4,000-sq.-ft.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Walmart <\/strong>will add a Neighborhood Market in Myrtle Beach, SC; Lake Charles, LA; Mobile, AL; and Omaha, NE. It also added 77,000-sq. ft. to its planned perishable grocery distribution center in Alamance County, NC.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Whole Foods<\/strong>\u00a0will hold a grand opening for its store at Westfield Countryside Mall in Clearwater, FL, on 9\/24\/2014.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Trader Joe&#8217;s <\/strong>will open a location in Delray Beach, Pembroke Pines, Palm Beach Gardens, Ft. Lauderdale, and Boca Raton, FL.<strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Green Initiatives<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>H-E-B<\/strong> is showcasing its seafood sustainability efforts with a new website and a partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Personnel Updates: Mark Retzloff has stepped down as Alfalfa\u2019s CEO. Busch\u2019s Fresh Food Market has named Mike Brooks President and CEO. C&amp;S Wholesale Grocers has appointed Joseph J. Schena CFO and Exec VP, effective 9\/28\/2014. Haggen Inc. has announced that John Clougher has been named CEO. K-VA-T Food Stores\u00a0has named Dan Glei as the company\u2019s&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/2014\/09\/industry-update-grocery-supermarket-convenience-stores-september-2014\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Industry Update: Grocery, Supermarket &amp; Convenience Stores \u2013 September 2014<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"post-template-no-sidebar.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-4218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grocery-convenience","tag-eupdate","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4218\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chainstoreguide.com\/offthechain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}