Posted on October 13, 2016 by Retail News Editor

Price Chopper and Market 32 launch new Pharmacy App to help customers manage prescriptions

Schenectady, NY, 2016-Oct-13 — /EPR Retail News/ — Price Chopper and Market 32 have introduced a new mobile app in partnership with mscripts to help customers manage prescriptions on the go.

The Price Chopper Pharmacy App is an easy-to-use web health management resource that provides medication refill reminders, allows for prescription orders, access to medication records, and more.

The app allows Price Chopper and Market 32 pharmacy patients to manage their prescriptions through twoway interactive SMS messaging and mobile apps.

The Price Chopper Pharmacy App features:
• Prescriptions: order refill by prescription number or scanned image, receive status updates, and access prescription history
• Family Accounts: manage family member’s prescriptions from a single account
• Pharmacy Locator: receive driving directions, store hours,and a list of available services at the nearest Price Chopper or Market 32 Pharmacy
• My Doctors: store information about doctor(s) in one convenient location

“Price Chopper/Market 32 and their pharmacies play an important role in the communities they serve,” said Jason Gasper, senior vice president at mscripts. “Together, mscripts and Price Chopper/Market 32 are proud to deliver an evolving set of tools for patients to better manage their health. With this new app and text messaging service, patients can now quickly refill and stay on top of their medication regimen.”

The new pharmacy app is available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play, search Price Chopper Pharmacy.

About The Golub Corporation

Based in Schenectady, NY, the Golub Corporation owns and operates 135 Price Chopper and Market 32 grocery stores in New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The American owned, family-managed company prides itself on longstanding traditions of innovative food merchandising, leadership in community service, and cooperative employee relations. Golub’s 21,000 teammates collectively own more than 47% of the company’s privately held stock, making it one of the nation’s largest privately held corporations that is predominantly employee-owned. For additional information, visit www.pricechopper.com

About mscripts

mscripts delivers patient adherence and engagement solutions through their innovative, easy-to-use mobile and web health management platform. The mscripts’ platform serves millions of patients spanning national, regional and specialty pharmacies along with hospital out-patient systems. Pharmacy patients manage their prescriptions and health on their mobile phones through two-way interactive SMS messaging and branded mobile applications, making refilling convenient and remembering to take medications easy. mscripts improves adherence by improving refill rates, providing education and health information, and applying advanced analytics to better understand patient behavior. Learn more at www.mscripts.com.

Contact:
Kathy Bryant
Price Chopper
518.379.1122

Jonathan Pierce
APR Pierce Communications
518.427.1186

Source: Price Chopper

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Retail News Editor

Ulta Beauty hosts its 2016 analyst and investor conference

BOLINGBROOK, Ill., 2016-Oct-13 — /EPR Retail News/ — Ulta Beauty [NASDAQ:ULTA] will host its 2016 analyst and investor conference today, Thursday, October 13, 2016 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Chicago, Illinois. In conjunction with this event, the Company raised its financial guidance for the third quarter and full year 2016, and provided an update on its long term strategy.

“We look forward to sharing with the investment community our latest thinking on our strategic plan and opportunities to double our market share,” said Mary Dillon, Chief Executive Officer. “We are confident that executing against our strategic imperatives will continue to drive excellent financial results and create sustainable, long term shareholder value.”

Outlook:

For the third quarter of fiscal 2016, the Company now expects comparable sales, including e-commerce sales, to increase 14% to 15%, compared to previous guidance of 11% to 13%. The Company reported a comparable sales increase of 12.8% in the third quarter of fiscal 2015.

Income per diluted share for the third quarter of fiscal 2016 is estimated to be in the range of $1.35 to $1.38, compared to prior guidance of $1.25 to $1.30. The Company reported income per diluted share for the third quarter of fiscal 2015 of $1.11.

As a result of the better than expected performance in the third quarter to date, the Company is also raising its previously announced fiscal 2016 guidance. For the full year, the Company plans to achieve comparable sales growth of approximately 12% to 14%, including the impact of the e-commerce business, compared to previous guidance of 11% to 13%. The Company expects to deliver earnings per share growth in the mid-twenties percentage range, compared to previous guidance of low to mid-twenties percentage range, including the impact of the new Dallas distribution center, the rollout of prestige brand boutiques, the accelerated share repurchase program, and continued open market share repurchases.

The Company is also confirming its outlook for the business to deliver earnings per share growth in the low twenties percentage range for fiscal 2017, 2018 and 2019, despite growing from a much larger base compared to initial expectations when the strategic plan was communicated in 2014. The Company is raising its view of long term comparable sales growth and now expects to drive strong 7% to 9% comparable sales growth for this period from 2017 to 2019, compared to previous guidance of 5% to 7% long term comparable growth.

The Company reaffirms its expectation to deliver approximately 200 basis points of operating margin expansion from 2016 levels, to reach its mid-teens operating margin target by the end of fiscal 2019.

Conference Highlights:

The Company will discuss its plans to double its market share over the next several years through new store expansion, e-commerce growing to become a billion dollar business, higher store productivity, and gaining greater share of wallet.

Highlights of the presentations will include:

Details on the company’s updated consumer segmentation study, revealing a larger opportunity to target beauty enthusiasts who represent 77% of spending in the beauty products market.
Insights about how the Ultamate Rewards loyalty program, currently representing more than 90% of company sales, can grow share of wallet of existing members from a one third share today, reflecting significant market share opportunity.
Discussion of exciting recent brand launches including Origins, Dior, Estee Lauder, proactiv, and Shiseido in the skincare and cosmetics categories; Stash SJP fragrance; Honest Beauty haircare products; and Dyson hair dryers.
Unveiling of an updated real estate analysis that validates incremental new store potential in the U.S. and highlights key expansion opportunities, leading to a raised outlook for store expansion to a range of 1,400 to 1,700 in the U.S.
Updated views on the new store model including the cost to build a store and the sales ramp to maturity, reflecting higher new store productivity and higher sales per store of mature stores as a result of a stronger product portfolio, and higher brand awareness.

Webcast Information

Today’s investor and analyst conference will be webcast live on October 13, 2016, from 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time to 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time and from 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time at http://ir.ulta.com and will be archived for one year.

About Ulta Beauty

Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ: ULTA) is the largest beauty retailer in the United States and the premier beauty destination for cosmetics, fragrance, skin, hair care products and salon services. Since opening its first store in 1990, Ulta Beauty has grown to become the top national retailer providing All Things Beauty, All in One Place™. The Company offers more than 20,000 products from over 500 well-established and emerging beauty brands across all categories and price points, including Ulta Beauty’s own private label. Ulta Beauty also offers a full-service salon in every store featuring hair, skin and brow services. Ulta Beauty is recognized for its commitment to personalized service, fun and inviting stores and its industry-leading Ultamate Rewards loyalty program. As of October 1, 2016 Ulta Beauty operates 928 retail stores across 48 states and the District of Columbia and also distributes its products through its website, which includes a collection of tips, tutorials and social content. For more information, visit www.ulta.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, future events and financial performance. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking words such as “outlook,” “believes,” “expects,” “plans,” “estimates,” “targets,” “strategies” or other comparable words. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon our historical performance and on current plans, estimates and expectations. The inclusion of this forward-looking information should not be regarded as a representation by us or any other person that the future plans, estimates, targets, strategies or expectations contemplated by us will be achieved. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation: the impact of weakness in the economy; changes in the overall level of consumer spending; the possibility that we may be unable to compete effectively in our highly competitive markets; the possibility that cybersecurity breaches and other disruptions could compromise our information or result in the unauthorized disclosure of confidential information; the possibility that the capacity of our distribution and order fulfillment infrastructure and the performance of our newly opened distribution centers may not be adequate to support our recent growth and expected future growth plans; our ability to gauge beauty trends and react to changing consumer preferences in a timely manner; our ability to attract and retain key executive personnel; customer acceptance of our rewards program and technological and marketing initiatives; our ability to sustain our growth plans and successfully implement our long-range strategic and financial plan; the possibility that our continued opening of new stores could strain our resources and have a material adverse effect on our business and financial performance; the possibility of material disruptions to our information systems; changes in the wholesale cost of our products; the possibility that new store openings and existing locations may be impacted by developer or co-tenant issues; weather conditions that could negatively impact sales; our ability to successfully execute our common stock repurchase program or implement future common stock repurchase programs; and other risk factors detailed in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including risk factors contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 30, 2016, as such may be amended or supplemented in our subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Our filings with the SEC are available at www.sec.gov. Except to the extent required by the federal securities laws, the Company does not undertake to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact:

Scott Settersten
Chief Financial Officer
(630) 410-4807

Laurel Lefebvre
Vice President, Investor Relations
(630) 410-5230

Karen May
Director, Public Relations
(630) 410-5457

Source: Ulta Beauty

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Retail News Editor

U.S.Green certified buildings now represents 40.2 percent according to third annual Green Building Adoption Index study

Los Angeles, 2016-Oct-13 — /EPR Retail News/ — Institutional owners of office buildings continued to pursue green building certifications in the 30 largest U.S. markets during 2015. Continuing an upward trend over the past decade, green certifications are now held by 11.8 percent of all surveyed buildings, representing 40.2 percent of all office space. Both figures are slightly above last year’s results, according to the third annual Green Building Adoption Index study by CBRE Group, Inc. and Maastricht University. “Green” office buildings in the U.S. are defined as those that hold either an EPA ENERGY STAR label, USGBC LEED certification or both.

After placing second on the Green Building Adoption Index the two prior years, the San Francisco market claimed the top spot with 73.7 percent of its space qualified as green certified. Chicago claimed the second spot, narrowly trailing the leader at 72.3 percent and Minneapolis fell from the top into third spot at 60.6 percent. Houston, Atlanta and Los Angeles all also achieved more than 50 percent green certification in their office markets.

“While the rate of growth in ‘green’ buildings has slowed modestly, our latest study underscores that in most major markets, sustainable office space has become the ‘new normal,’” said David Pogue, CBRE’s Global Director of Corporate Responsibility.

The overall results of the study do show that the while the uptake of green building practices in the 30 largest U.S. cities continues to be significant, the rate of adoption is slowing. In 2014 the total sq. ft. of green office space in the top 30 markets was 39.3 percent compared to the latest rate of 40.2 percent.

“This likely reflects the fact that only a certain fraction of the building stock can obtain a green or energy-efficiency certification,” said Dr. Nils Kok, associate professor in Finance and Real Estate, Maastricht University (NL). “Additionally, we believe that some buildings that were previously certified did not renew their certification in 2015. This does not necessarily mean that the energy use of these buildings has changed, but that some owners and managers may choose not to spend the time or expense to reapply for certification every year.”

A new feature of the 2015 study is a geographic mapping platform that highlights the name, location and details of the specific green certification for each building in all 30 markets.

Executed in close collaboration with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and CBRE Research, this is the third release of the annual Green Building Adoption Index. Based on a rigorous methodology, the Index shows the growth of ENERGY STAR- and LEED-certified space for the 30 largest U.S. office markets, both in aggregate and in individual markets, over the previous 10 years. View the study’s findings HERE.

About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2015 revenue). The Company has more than 70,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate investors and occupiers through more than 400 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers a broad range of integrated services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Robert McGrath
Senior Director, Global Media Relations
+1 212 9848267

Source: CBRE Group, Inc.

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Retail News Editor

CBRE: Availability of U.S. industrial space declined by 20 bps to 8.4 percent in the third quarter from the second

Los Angeles, 2016-Oct-13 — /EPR Retail News/ — The U.S. industrial-property market continued its record run of improvement in the third quarter, given that availability of industrial space declined for the 26th consecutive quarter, according to the latest analysis from CBRE Group, Inc.

Availability of industrial space across markets tracked by CBRE declined by 20 basis points (bps) to 8.4 percent in the third quarter from the second, extending the longest stretch of consecutive quarterly declines since CBRE began tracking the figures in 1989. Forty-five markets registered declines in availability in the quarter, and 10 reported increases likely due to completion of new buildings.

The industrial market continues to draw momentum from e-commerce, as hefty flows of goods stream into the U.S., the world’s largest consumer economy, and online sales claim a steadily growing portion of overall retail sales. Industrial users in turn have embarked on a supply-chain arms race of sorts by adding more distribution space, be it for big-box distribution centers, last-mile facilities nearest population centers or reverse-logistics facilities to handle returns.

“The industrial market is running full-throttle,” said Jeffrey Havsy, CBRE’s Chief Economist in the Americas. “The pace of demand has been running nearly double that of supply, and vacancy continues to decline in big chunks. Demand is being driven by strong growth in e-commerce, a healthy auto industry and some re-shoring of certain types of manufacturing.”

Among the markets that showed the largest year-over-year declines in availability in the third quarter are Memphis (down 260 bps), Detroit (down 250), New York City (down 240), Tampa (down 200), Boston (down 180) and Philadelphia (150). Those that registered increases in availability, often due to new construction, include Denver, Houston, Cincinnati and California’s Riverside market.

Availability as referenced by CBRE encompasses all space available for lease, including space currently occupied but otherwise listed for use by other tenants. This is in contrast to vacancy, which denotes only empty space. Several markets now are posting their lowest availability in decades, including Memphis, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, South Central Pennsylvania and Orange County, Calif.

CBRE expects the nationwide decline in availability of industrial space to eventually slow or reverse as new buildings are completed and begin to narrow the gap between demand and supply. That often benefits users by providing more options for space to lease and tempering lease-rate increases. CBRE anticipates that developers in the U.S. will deliver 173 million square feet of industrial space in 2016 and 172 million in 2017 after delivering 158 million in 2015.

“The industrial market is forecast to remain healthy for the next several quarters as the fundamentals move closer to equilibrium,” Mr. Havsy said.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Robert McGrath
Senior Director, Global Media Relations
+1 212 9848267

Source: CBRE Group, Inc.

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Retail News Editor

VERO MODA apprentice awarded second prize in ‘Detailhandlens Fagprøvepris 2016’

: VERO MODA apprentice awarded second prize in ‘Detailhandlens Fagprøvepris 2016’

BRANDE, Denmark, 2016-Oct-13 — /EPR Retail News/ — Store apprentice from VERO MODA Bruuns Galleri in Aarhus, Anne Skarby, took home the second prize in ‘Detailhandlens Fagprøvepris 2016’ awarded at Børsen in Copenhagen Friday last week. We talked to Anne to learn more about her final examination project.

1 September, during a holiday with her family in Mallorca, Anne Skarby got a call from the Danish Chamber of Commerce breaking the news about her impressive result. “I was totally shocked and, of course, very very happy,” Anne begins.

‘Detailhandlens Fagprøvepris 2016’ is awarded by the Danish Chamber of Commerce and honours the best students in the retail business. Out of 5000 projects, only 10 made it to the nominations, and Anne’s final examination project titled ‘’Can JACK & JONES’ service concept be implemented in VERO MODA’ obviously ended up impressing both her trainers and the Danish Chamber of Commerce as she took home the second prize.

Anne on the idea behind the project: ”The idea behind the subject was born during one of the school periods, where I spent a week in a JACK & JONES store in Herning. Here, I experienced a service concept, which was very different from ours. I saw them spending much more time with each customer, which in many cases led to bigger basket sizes than what I was used to in VERO MODA.”

PASSION PAYS OFF
“This experience really lit a fire to my passion for customer service, and I was convinced that if we could improve our level of service in VERO MODA and invest more of ourselves when interacting with our customers, we would be able to increase our turnover. Being one of the largest fashion brands in Denmark, we simply had to be able to do better.”

All this led to Anne’s decision on making Customer Service the subject of her project. A combination of VERO MODA’s and JACK & JONES’ service concepts formed the basis of her final oral presentation, which ended up giving her the second prize.

A part of the committee’s reason for awarding Anne: “Anne exhibits an exceptional talent when it comes to applying theory to practice in an analytical and rational manner. She is service-minded, thorough in all aspects of her work and her education – and her level of professionalism is unusually high.”

“Gaining this recognition has provided a massive boost to my confidence and has left me wanting to achieve more. It has convinced me that if I fight for what I want and believe in, I can succeed. Lastly, it really shows that I have found my niche, “Anne finishes.

Trainer in HR and responsible for BESTSELLER’s Apprentice Education, on Anne’s accomplishment: “We are very proud of the excellent result Anne has achieved. She is a product of the great apprentice education programme we have in BESTSELLER, where students are given responsibility and the freedom to carve out a solid foundation for their future career. We are happy that Anne will remain a part of BESTSELLER, so that we can benefit from her skills and not least her amazing personality.”

Anne will continue her daily life in VERO MODA in Bruuns Galleri. However, her future dream is to improve her skills even more to become a Service Concept Developer in VERO MODA and be in the very forefront of how the brand defines customer service.

Contact:

E-mail: contact@bestseller.com
Phone: + 45 99 42 32 00

Source: BESTSELLER

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Retail News Editor

ICSC Global Awards for 2016 honored SM Supermalls with four major awards

: ICSC Global Awards for 2016 honored SM Supermalls with four major awards

Pasay City, Philippines, 2016-Oct-13 — /EPR Retail News/ — The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) awarded SM Supermalls with four major awards – one Gold, three Silvers, and one Certificate of Merit from the ICSC Foundation – under different categories from the prestigious International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Global Awards for 2016. The awards affirm the company’s dominance in the local and regional markets covering various standards of the international shopping center industry.

Getting the Gold award is SM Supermalls’ breakthrough “Download & Win” mobile app under the Marketing Excellence for Emerging Digital Technology category. A key component of the mall’s digital marketing strategy, the campaign was launched as part of SM’s 30th anniversary celebration. It was also the first scratch card promotion in digital format ever implemented in the country. This award automatically makes SM eligible to win ICSC’s Global “Best-of-the-Best” Viva Award.

The mall’s Feb 30th Anniversary Sale campaign won a Silver award for Marketing Excellence under the Sales Promotion category. A year-long celebration began with a series of generous promotional activities that demonstrated SM Supermalls’ extreme gratitude for its customers’ loyal patronage for three decades.

Another Silver award for Marketing Excellence went to SM’s “Bricks Click” Partners Summit under the Business to Business category. The 2-day event consisting of a Retail Forum and Partners Awards, initiated an exchange of knowledge on innovation among SM’s partners.

The third Silver went to SM Lifestyle Center Xiamen for its “Floral Tiles Christmas@SM Lifestyle Center” project, under the Public Relations and Events category. Its salute to the sentiments of old Xiamen and the preservation of the city’s heritage tiles got the nod of the ICSC judges.

A Certificate of Merit from the ICSC Foundation was given to SM City Marilao and SM City Baliwag for their campaign “Green Vision: The SM Mission”. The merit was the ICSC Foundation’s way of recognizing the excellent commitment of SM Prime Holdings Inc. towards the local community. The malls held a “green” concert, called “Green Guitar: A Concert for the Planet”, which was powered entirely through solar energy. This was a benefit project that provided the power supply for the livelihood activities of the Dioceses of Malolos’ Jubilee Shelter Program.

This is not the first time that the company received recognition from the prestigious international group. Earlier this year in April, SM Lifestyle Center in Xiamen received a gold award for its Future Architects campaign that highlighted green architecture and city planning. Some of SM Supermalls’ notable ICSC awards in the past include a Gold for the revolutionary “iButterfly Hunt” in 2012, and a Silver for the Mega Fashion Hall in 2015.

The year 2011 was especially meaningful when the ICSC Foundation gave SM Prime Holdings its highest honor, the Albert Sussman International Community Support Award, for the mall company’s quick deployment of relief aid to victims of typhoon Sendong (international name: Washi) in December 2011. Another Asia Pacific Community Support Award was given to SM for its Breaking the Poverty Chain campaign, which was a partnership with Gawad Kalinga in time for SM North EDSA’s 25th anniversary.

ICSC is an association of the global shopping center industry, with over 70,000 members from more 100 countries worldwide. Its members include shopping center owners, developers, managers, investors, retailers, brokers, academics, and public officials. The ICSC Global Awards is the association’s way of promoting excellence in the global retail real estate industry by recognizing outstanding efforts in marketing, design and development.

For further information, please contact:

Ms. Corazon P. Guidote
Senior Vice President for Investor Relations
SM Investments Corporation
E-mail: cora.guidote@sminvestments.com
Tel. No. (632) 857-0117

Source: SM Investments Corporation

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