Development/Redevelopment

Canadian grocer Metro, Inc. said this week that it would purchase Les Supermarchés GP, Inc. (GP), a 50-year-old family business with annual sales of over CAN $300 million (US $271.7 million) which operates 15 supermarkets in Quebec City and eastern Quebec, including eight under the Metro and Metro Plus banners, and seven under the GP banner.

The U.S. Department of Commerce offered yet another clue that, with any luck, the panic and the recession will someday merely be bad memories.

Safeway, Inc. has appointed Arun Sarin and Michael S. Shannon to its board of directors, which expands from 10 to 12 members with these new appointments.

BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc. plans to open smaller-sized stores measuring around 85,000 square feet, according to published reports. Laura Sen, president and COO of the Natick, Mass.-based warehouse club chain, revealed the strategy during a second-quarter earnings call.

Roundy’s Supermarkets, Inc., is gearing up to open a 68,000-square-foot supermarket at the site of The Lattof Chevrolet building on Northwest Highway, southeast of downtown Chicago, in Arlington Heights, Ill.

The Fresh Grocer, a supermarket chain committed to developing new stores in communities previously overlooked by growing businesses, cuts the ribbon today on its first green, eco-friendly store in northwest Philadelphia, near La Salle University. It’s the eighth store opening since The Fresh Grocer began in 1996; the next Philadelphia location is expected in Progress Plaza this December.

Meijer, Inc. signed an agreement Friday to open a 192,000-square-foot store anchoring the new $90-million Shoppes at Gateway Park retail development, marking the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based superstore operator’s first Detroit location, according to a published report.

Two businesses with strong ties to the Knoxville, Tenn. region are embarking on a joint venture to build a new fuel terminal in the existing Knoxville terminal complex. Knoxville-based Pilot Corp. and a subsidiary of Food City’s parent company, K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc. will begin construction as soon as possible.