EQUITY RETAIL BLOG

Trending Real Estate: Mixed-use Developments

The mixed-use mantra of “live, work, play” continues to drive development and redevelopment across the commercial real estate markets of Philadelphia. Growing urban and suburban population density is a major factor, but changing attitudes also figure prominently: Members of the Millennial and Gen Z generations tend to look askance at living in single-family housing developments […]

Trader Joe's says it's saving jobs by not offering online grocery service

Trader Joe’s recently revealed that it does not plan to offer grocery pickup and delivery, despite the heightened demand for online grocery services during the pandemic. According to an article on businessinsider.com, marketing executives for the company said the costs for building online grocery services were too high and that the offerings don’t always translate […]

March comps are up for Target, led by digital channels

Target reported last week that coronavirus-related purchases – led by groceries and daily staples – contributed to double-digit comp sales growth in March. March 2020 sales climbed more than 100% in Target’s digital channels, far outpacing the single-digit growth experienced in stores. The company reported that comp sales in March jumped about 40% in food […]

How to Open Your Second and Third Retail Locations

By Rob Samtmann Retail real estate is a long game. Brokers, landlords, retailers and other stakeholders need to think carefully, not just about present-day market conditions, but also about future ones. Despite the admittedly daunting effects of the Covid-19 virus, any veteran of the business (I’ve been a broker in Philadelphia since 1997) knows one […]

Whole Foods converts some stores to online fulfillment centers

Whole Foods announced that in order to help meet increased demand, it is temporarily closing a few stores and converting them to fulfillment centers for online delivery orders. Stores in New York City and Baltimore have already made the transition, and San Francisco’s SoMa location remains open until 1:00 pm daily, after which time it […]

Restaurants Transform Their Business Model

Restaurants Are Transforming Into Grocery Stores Because of Coronavirus Across the country, cafes and restaurants are scrambling to keep their businesses afloat. Restaurants that relied on dine-in customers are rapidly coming up with ways to hold onto customers who are no longer allowed into dining rooms. Instead, stores are selling items they already sell, in […]

Scores of customers make first-ever online grocery orders during pandemic

Results from a survey conducted by Acosta that were released earlier this week concluded that of all shoppers who made online grocery purchases between March 20-29, 28% were first-timers who shopped online because of COVID-19. There were many other survey findings related to the pandemic, but most were old news at this point. For instance, […]

March grocery sales rose, overall retail sales saw huge loss

The National Retail Federation said that despite the largest monthly drop ever in overall retail sales, grocery and beverage store sales went up by more than 25% during the month of March as compared to February. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, March retail and foodservice totaled about $483 billion, down 8.7% from February and […]

Coronavirus claims ShopRite operator Steve Ravitz

Steve Ravitz, 73, who started Ravitz Family Markets in 1968 and retired as president last year, died last week from the coronavirus, his family announced. Ravitz Family Markets is a Wakefern Cooperative member with five ShopRite stores in New Jersey. Upon his retirement, Ravitz passed the leadership to his sons Jason, Shawn and Brett. Ravitz […]

Albertsons and UFCW seek first responder status for grocery workers

Albertsons and United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) are attempting to obtain a temporary designation of “extended first responders” or “emergency personnel” for supermarket associates. With such a designation, grocery workers would be prioritized for COVID-19 testing, and personal protection equipment like masks and gloves. The joint effort was made last Tuesday in an open […]