2023’s Top Ranked Grocery Retailers Texas regional powerhouse, H-E-B, took the top spot in the Dunnhumby Retailer Preference Index, a nationwide study of the U.S. grocery market. The study surveys 10,000 American grocery shoppers and grades the grocery retailers on price, promotions, rewards, quality, digital, operations, and speed/convenience. Other top grocery retailers include Amazon, Costco, Aldi, and Publix. (Chain Store Age 1/11) [Read]

Restaurants Bullish in 2024 Economic uncertainty and high interest rates are not expected to deter full-service restaurants from growing in 2024. In a survey of 600 U.S. restaurant owners, CEOs, general managers, and area managers, 94% stated they have some sort of expansion plans for 2024 as they are optimistic for the year ahead. However, they are still expected to face some difficulties as inventory costs and staff turnover rates remain high. (Chain Store Age 1/17) [Read]

2024’s Top Expanders Discounters, dollar stores, and quick-serve restaurants are set to expand the most in 2024 as consumers focus on value items as uncertain economic conditions persist. Dollar General is committed to adding 800 new stores, Ross Dress For Less is pushing for 700 new stores in their long-term plan, and Burlington plans to open at least 32 stores in 2024 with a goal of 500 new locations in the next 5 years. Planet Fitness, Aldi, and Target are on the path to expansion as well. (Chain Store Age 1/8) [Read]

Freddy’s Aims for 800 Restaurants Fast-casual chain, Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, is aiming to continue their rapid expansion into 2024. The company opened a record 62 new restaurants in 2023, including their 500^th location, and currently has over 130 locations in development, primarily in Florida, Georgia, and Texas among other states. Freddy’s plans to open 60 to 70 locations in the U.S. and Canada in 2024 to bring them closer to their goal of 800 locations by 2026. (Chain Store Age 1/12) [Read]

Dutch Bros to Open 150+ Stores The drive-thru coffee chain said it expects to open at least 150 to 165 new locations in 2024. In 2023, the company opened 159 new locations, of which 146 were company operated. The company has a long-term goal of 4,000 locations in the next 10 to 15 years. (Chain Store Age 1/8) [Read]

Sprouts Farmers Market Continues to Expand The natural and organic foods grocer has set opening dates for seven new stores that will open by March 15^th. This comes after Sprouts opened their 400^th store last September and net sales in their Q3 rose 7.6% year over year. Sprouts five-year plan includes a robust target of 10% growth year over year, with 60 executed leases and 35 stores expected to open in 2024. (Chain Store Age 1/5) [Read]

BJ’s Expanding in 2024 BJ’s opened its first location of 2024 in North Jacksonville as the company continues its growth trajectory. The location is the 37^th in Florida and comes after multiple openings in November and December in Tennessee, Ohio, and Alabama. BJ’s now has 241 clubs operated across 20 states. (Chain Store Age 1/4) [Read]

Potbelly’s Sandwich Shop Eyes 2024 Growth The company announced that they have signed 192 new development agreements, putting Potbelly on a fast track to expand. Their long-term goal is to reach 2,000 shops, up from their current 425, with roughly 85% being franchised. Potbelly has agreements signed across the country, including Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, and more. (Chain Store Age 1/23) [Read]

Batteries Plus Hits Record Growth 2023 was a successful year for the specialty battery franchise, opening 30 stores and signing 54 franchise agreements. Batteries Plus is predicting a 6-8% sales growth in 2024, which is expected to be driven by a record third year of double-digit B2B segment growth. The company expects to continue to break into new markets in 2024. (Chain Store Age 1/11) [Read]

Ulta Tops $10B in Sales The company saw a net sales increase of 18.3% year over year in 2023 as the retailer continued to stay relevant as other retailers faced sales declines. Ulta did so by bringing back their customer loyalty program as well as evolving its product assortment and utilizing AI to improve communications with customers. Ulta is expected to remain in a stronger position than other retailers. (Retail Dive 1/17) [Read]

Macy’s Closing Stores and Cutting Jobs Store performances in the holiday season prompted Macy’s to decide to close five department stores and two furniture galleries as the company looks to reassess how to align itself with changing consumer behaviors. Macy’s also will be laying 2,300 associates off, primarily from their corporate office, which accounts for 3.5% of their workforce. (Forbes 1/22) [Read]

Kimco Completes RPT Realty Buyout Kimco has officially closed its earlier announced acquisition of RPT Realty in their all-stock transaction. The buyout includes 56 open-air shopping centers for a total of 13.3M square feet of gross leasable area, which will now be part of Kimco’s existing portfolio of 527 properties. (Yahoo Finance 1/3) [Read]

Bal Harbour Shops Submits Expansion Plans Whitman Family Development has submitted plans to add a 70-room hotel and 600 apartments at the center now that the Florida Live Local Act has been passed. Once permits are issued, Whitman will begin development of the lower-rent, workforce housing tower. The center is currently undergoing a $550M retail expansion, adding roughly 250,000 square feet of gross leasable area. (Chain Store Age 1/10) [Read]

Glengary Shoppes Sells for $30.5M Benderson Development acquired the 95,489-square-foot retail center for $30.5M from Regency Centers, who were represented by Colliers. The Best Buy anchored center was 97% occupied at time of purchase. (Patch Media 1/16) [Read]

Whole Foods Pays $21M for Miami’s Met3 Location Whole Foods Market acquired the 97,674-square-foot ground-floor anchor space and underground garage in the 32-story mixed-used Met3 center for $21M. Whole Foods, who has been in the space since 2015, paid $21M to acquire the property from an affiliate of Edens, who purchased it back in 2015 for $19.6M. (The Real Deal 1/5) [Read]

High Rents and Sparse Space Continue in 2024 New construction of retail space had averaged more than 100M square feet per year since 1999, but that dropped to 82M square feet in 2022, and dropped significantly in 2023 to 46 million square feet. This trend is expected to continue, forcing rents to continue to rise in the U.S. and, with fewer substantial retail closures such as Bed Bath & Beyond expected, retailers will have to work with what is available. (Chain Store Age 1/15) [Read]

Consumer Confidence Reaches Two-Year High U.S. consumer confidence, amid slowing inflation and expectations that the Federal Reserve will start cutting rates soon, increased to a two-year high in January. Consumer confidence likely rose due to improving employment conditions as well. Consumers 55 years old and over saw the greatest gain amongst other age groups. (Reuters 1/30) [Read]

Small Businesses Adding Jobs in 2024 For the 34^th consecutive month, U.S. small businesses saw job growth as wage growth continues to stabilize. Despite the challenges of a tight labor market and costs of attracting and retaining employees, small businesses have continued to add jobs at a steady pace. (CPA Practice Advisor 1/30) [Read]