Content about Grocery store

MINNEAPOLIS — February same-store sales at Target advanced 1.8%, thanks to the addition of fresh food and consumables that are part of an aggressive remodeling program causing more people to shop its stores.

The company said more than half of its February same-store sales gain were driven by an increase in transactions combined with a small increase in the average transaction size. The 1.8% gain comes on top of a 2.4% increase in February 2010.

SALISBURY, N.C. — Food Lion announced Friday that it would add more of its MVP savings center kiosks to help customers save on their grocery bills.

MVP savings center kiosks, which are part of Food Lion's MVP customer loyalty card program, were introduced in stores last year. Since their introduction, kiosk coupons have up to five times the redemption rate when compared with coupons delivered via traditional distribution channels, Food Lion said.

Money-saving coupon kiosks also can be found at Bloom and at Harveys.

NEW YORK — Discount grocer Aldi has opened its first-ever New York City-area store in the borough of Queens.

The store, which is located in Rego Park, marks the first of three grocery stores the company plans to open in New York, including new locations in the Bronx and Bay Shore, Long Island.

Aldi, which offers a limited assortment of items, said it will bring its standard floor plan to Queens, which includes wider-than-typical 8-ft. aisles.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Harris Teeter on Friday announced an incentive to its VIC loyalty card customers to receive their seasonal flu shots this season.

Now through the end of May, customers who purchase a seasonal flu shot for only $12.95 with their VIC card will receive an electronic coupon for $12.95, valid on their next grocery purchase of that value or more.

Select Harris Teeter pharmacies are offering these seasonal flu shots right now, the Carolina grocer stated.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Harris Teeter is encouraging shoppers to get healthy in 2011 by promoting its Yourwellness program.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Hy-Vee has opened its latest store in Sioux Falls, S.D., the grocery and retail pharmacy chain said.

Hy-Vee acquired the building, formerly a Sunshine Foods store, in September as part of the same transaction that included the opening of another Sioux Falls store and a store in Windom, Minn.

The 45,000-sq.-ft. store will employ 45 former employees of Sunshine Foods.

MT. PLEASANT, Texas — The Bling is coming to Brookshire’s. Brookshire Grocery, a chain of more than 150 supermarkets and pharmacies operating in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, last week partnered with Bling Nation — a mobile technology platform that enables a new way to pay for groceries or prescriptions using only a mobile phone.

The tap-and-connect mobile phone capabilities available through Bling Nation also will allow Brookshire’s to connect with its customers through its Facebook page.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT There have been a spate of announcements in the past month around the growing prominence of fresh-food offerings in nontraditional retail settings (aka the corner drug store) that capitalize on the convenience opportunity a typical pharmacy footprint represents. Walgreens announced a move to bring healthier food choices to more inner-city residents, and CVS/pharmacy recently expanded its Urban Cluster store concept featuring a more prominent consumables department. But Rite Aid’s story is not a me-too story.