A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more limited in the range of merchandise than a hypermarket or big-box market. In everyday United States usage, however, "grocery store" is often used to mean "supermarket".
Kmart, formerly legally registered as Kmart Corporation, now operated by Transformco, is a department store chain, and an online retailer in the United States and operates six remaining Kmart big-box department stores — 3 in the US Virgin Islands and one each in Kendale Lakes, Florida ; Bridgehampton, Long Island; and Tamuning, Guam.
A variety store is a retail store that sells general merchandise, such as apparel, auto parts, dry goods, toys, hardware, furniture, and a selection of groceries. It usually sells them at discounted prices, sometimes at one or several fixed price points, such as one dollar, or historically, five and ten cents. Variety stores, as a category, are different from general merchandise superstores, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, grocery stores, or department stores.
On July 2, 1982, Larry Walters made a 45-minute flight in a homemade aerostat made of an ordinary lawn chair and 42 helium-filled weather balloons. The aircraft rose to an altitude of about 16,000 feet (4,900 m), drifted from the point of liftoff in San Pedro, California, and entered controlled airspace near Long Beach Airport. During the final descent, the aircraft became entangled in power lines, but Walters was able to climb down safely. The flight attracted worldwide media attention and inspired a movie, a musical and numerous imitators.
The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States.
Santa Claus parades, also called Christmas parades, are parades held in some countries to celebrate the official opening of the Christmas season with the arrival of Santa Claus who always appears in the last float. The parades usually include themed floats, dancing or marching groups and bands playing Christmas songs. They are moving pageants that typically end near the centre of a city. Often sponsored by department stores, they may reinforce the store's brand recognition during the important Christmas shopping season.
Aldi is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when they took over their mother's store in Essen. The business was split into two separate groups in 1960, that later became Aldi Nord, headquartered in Essen, and Aldi Süd, headquartered in neighbouring Mülheim.
A hypermarket or superstore is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full grocery lines and general merchandise. In theory, hypermarkets allow customers to satisfy all their routine shopping needs in one trip. The term hypermarket was coined in 1968 by French trade expert Jacques Pictet.
Hy-Vee, Inc. is an employee-owned chain of supermarkets in the Midwestern and Southern United States, with more than 280 locations in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, with stores planned in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. Hy-Vee was founded in 1930 by Charles Hyde and David Vredenburg in Beaconsfield, Iowa, in a small brick building known as the Beaconsfield Supply Store, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Meijer Inc. is an American supercenter chain that primarily operates throughout the Midwestern United States. Its corporate headquarters are in Walker, Michigan, which is a part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. Founded in 1934 as a supermarket chain, Meijer is credited with pioneering the modern supercenter concept in 1962. About half of the company's 259 stores are located in Michigan, particularly in its birthplace of West Michigan; the others are in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Wisconsin. The chain is ranked by Forbes as the 14th-largest private company in the United States, and is the country's 21st-largest retailer by revenue as of 2020.
Party City Holdco Inc, commonly referred to as Party City is an American publicly traded retail chain of party stores founded in 1986 by Steve Mandell in East Hanover, New Jersey. The companies headquarters are in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. The company is the largest retailer of party goods in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company operates over 850 company-owned and franchise outlets in over 70 countries around the world under the Party City, Halloween City, Toy City, Factory Card and Party Outlet brands.
IGA, Inc., is a franchised chain of grocery stores that operates in more than 41 countries. Unlike chain stores, IGA franchises are independently owned and operated. Many of these stores operate in small-town markets and belong to families that manage them. IGA was founded in the United States as the Independent Grocers Alliance in 1926. The headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois.
SpartanNash Company is an American food distributor and grocery store retailer headquartered in Byron Center, Michigan. The company's core businesses include distributing food to independent grocers, military commissaries, and corporate-owned retail stores in 44 states, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. SpartanNash operates 147 corporate-owned retail stores under a number of brands located in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio, many of which were local grocery chains acquired by SpartanNash. In terms of revenue, it is the largest food distributor serving military commissaries and exchanges in the United States. It is known for its Our Family line of products and formerly the "Spartan" line of products.
The Magnificent Mile Lights Festival is an annual event celebrated in Chicago on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. An estimated one million lights on 200 trees brighten the city's Michigan Avenue, also known as the Magnificent Mile. The festival is hosted by The Magnificent Mile Association, formerly the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association, and is the third largest parade in the country, according to the chair of the festival.
Fred's Inc. was a retail store chain headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, operating in 15 states in the southeastern United States. As of June, 2019 Fred's operated 396 locations, of which 155 were pharmacies, and the remainder discount general merchandise stores. In July 2019 Fred's announced 129 pending store closures, following which it would have 80 retail stores and 166 pharmacies remaining. This followed earlier store closing announcements in April and June 2019.
Target Corporation is an American retail corporation that operates a chain of discount department stores and hypermarkets, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh-largest retailer in the United States, and a component of the S&P 500 Index. The company is one of the largest American-owned private employers in the United States.
A balloon release is a ceremonial event in which a number of hydrogen- or helium-filled balloons are launched into the sky. Balloon releases can be done as a prayer ceremony, to create a photo opportunity, to raise awareness of a cause or campaign, or as a competitive long-distance race.
A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media, or light sources. Modern day balloons are made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, and can come in many different colors. Some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig bladder. Some balloons are used for decorative purposes or entertaining purposes, while others are used for practical purposes such as meteorology, medical treatment, military defense, or transportation. A balloon's properties, including its low density and low cost, have led to a wide range of applications.
Spirit Halloween, LLC is an American seasonal retailer that supplies Halloween decorations, costumes, props and accessories. It is the USA's largest Halloween retailer. It is currently owned by Spencer Gifts. It was founded in 1983 and began in the Castro Valley "Village Shopping Center" in the San Francisco East Bay Area, California, and has headquarters in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. In 1999, the store had 60 seasonal locations. Today, the pop-up retailer opens over a thousand locations across the United States and Canada each Halloween season.
Amazon Go is a chain of convenience stores in the United States and the United Kingdom, operated by the online retailer Amazon. The stores are cashierless, thus partially automated, with customers having the ability to purchase products without being checked out by a cashier or using a self-checkout station. As of 2023, there are 43 open and announced store locations in Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, London and New York City.
