National Retail Solutions
Empowering Independent Retailers to Compete

As Criminal Gangs Target New York’s Bodegas, NRS Partners with BSBG to Offer Stores Free Panic Alarm Service

Tuesday, June 06, 2023

NEWARK - National Retail Solutions, announced a partnership with the Bodega and Small Business Group (BSBG) to help safeguard New York City’s bodegas amid a continuing series of robberies and assaults on these stores.

The BSBG is a coalition of Hispanic bodega and other independent retail store owners in the New York metropolitan area, many of which serve predominantly immigrant communities in high-crime, low-income neighborhoods underserved by large retail brands. BSBG requested that NRS help its members to protect their stores with a panic alarm service.

Through the partnership, NRS will provide any BSBG member store that utilizes its point of sale (POS) terminal and enrolls for the alarm service on or before May 31, 2023 with six free months of Panic Alarm Button service.

The NRS alarm button is cleverly disguised within the NRS POS’s merchant-facing interface, enabling the cashier to summon local police silently and inconspicuously while a robbery or other emergency is in progress.

“Our bodegas are targeted by gangs and other violent criminals,” said Francisco Marte, president of BSBG. “We asked NRS to help our merchants because their panic alarm button is an essential safety service that enables our stores to safely alert the NYPD in an emergency.”

NRS operates the largest POS network for independent bodegas and retailers in the United States, comprising over 23,000 active POS terminals operating in stores nationwide. Over 10% of these stores are located in New York City.

“Our POS silent Panic Button Alarm service assists stores in emergency situations and helps deter crime,” said Elie Y. Katz, CEO of NRS. “It also makes owners and employees - as well as their customers - feel more secure, and in some instances, it can reduce the store’s insurance premiums. We offer support to store owners who try our system – training the staff so that they’ll know how to safely use the alarm in an emergency. Francisco and I encourage every BSBG member and every bodega and neighborhood c-store owner in New York to take advantage of this offer.”

To learn more about the NRS POS Panic Alarm Button premium feature or to request it for your store, please call (888) 755-9838 or visit nrsplus.com/panicalarm.

In New York City, the NRS POS Panic Alarm Button service is offered through NRS’ partnership with Top Security Alarms, a leading alarm company in the region for over 40 years (NYS License # 12000292736). Top Security Alarms also provides video surveillance and other security-related services.

NRSInsights’ August 2023 Retail Same-Store Sales Report

Monday, September 25, 2023

Same-store sales at NRS retailers during August increased 6.5% compared to August 2022 Compared to July 2023, sales declined 2.3% reflecting expected seasonal factors

NEWARK - National Retail Solutions (NRS) announced comparative same-store sales results for August 2023.

As of August 31, 2023, the NRS retail network comprised approximately 26,100 terminals scanning purchases at independent retailers including bodegas, convenience stores, liquor stores, grocers, and tobacco and sundries sellers nationwide, predominantly serving urban consumers.

Retail Same-Store Sales Highlights

• Same-store sales increased 6.5% from a year earlier (August 2022). Average sales per calendar day for August decreased 2.3% compared to the preceding month (July 2023).

• Same-store sales in the preceding month (July 2023) had increased 5.5% compared to the year-ago month (July 2022). Average sales per calendar day in July had increased 1.7% compared to the preceding month (June 2023).

• For the three months ended August 31, 2023, same-store sales increased 5.9% compared to the three months ended August 31, 2022.

• The number of items sold during August 2023 increased 5.3% compared to August 2022 and the number of items sold per calendar day in August decreased 1.3% compared to July 2023.

• The average number of transactions per store in August 2023 increased 3.6% compared to August 2022. The average number of transactions per calendar day in August decreased 1.0% compared to July 2023.

• A dollar-weighted average of prices for the top 500 items purchased in August 2023 increased 3.8% year-over-year, an increase from the 1.6% year-over-year increase recorded in July 2023.

Commentary from Suzy Silliman (SVP, Data Strategy and Sales at NRS)

“Same-store sales at retailers using our POS platform accelerated in August, increasing 6.5% -- an increase from the 5.5% year-over-year increase we reported last month. Although same-store sales dipped 2.3% from July’s level, that decrease reflected expected seasonal trends and is less than last year’s 3.3% July to August decrease.

“As expected, back-to-school categories such as school supplies, toaster pastries, lunch meats, and snack packs climbed in August compared to July, but the month-over-month increase was offset by decreases in sales of summer seasonal categories including sun care, outdoor recreation, and frozen desserts. Sales of over-the-counter upper respiratory care products increased 25% in August compared to July, correlated with the recent increases in COVID-19 cases.

“The top selling 500 items had a weighted year-over-year price per unit increase of 3.8% in August compared to the relatively benign 1.6% increase in July, led by increasing average prices in the following categories: non-alcoholic beverages; candy, gum, and mints; and cigarettes.

“Our urban retailers’ three-month rolling, year-over-year same-store sales increase of 5.9% continues to exceed the U.S. Commerce Department’s comparable retail same-store metric. Our rate of increase has, on average, been 5% above the Department’s rate of same-store sales over the past nine months.”

Retail Trade Comparative Data

The table below provides historical comparative data with the U.S. Commerce Department’s Advance Monthly Retail Trade same-store sales data excluding food service:

Over the past eight months, the NRS network’s three-month moving average same-store sales have outpaced the US Commerce Department’s Advance Monthly Retail Trade data excluding food services by 5.0 percentage points, on average.

The NRSInsights data have not been adjusted to reflect inflation, demographic distributions, seasonal buying patterns, item substitution, or other factors that may facilitate comparisons to other periods, to other same-store retail sales data, or to the U.S. Commerce Department’s retail data.

NRSInsights Reports

The NRSInsights monthly Same-Store Retail Sales Reports are intended to provide timely topline data reflective of sales at NRS’ network of independent, predominantly urban, retail stores.

Same-store data comparisons of August 2023 with August 2022 are derived from approximately 159 million transactions processed through the 14,886 stores on the NRS network that scanned transactions in both months. Same-store data comparisons of August 2023 with July 2023 are derived from approximately 216 million transactions processed through 21,775 stores.

Same-store data comparisons for the three months ended August 31, 2023 with the year-ago three months are derived from approximately 449 million scanned transactions processed through the stores that were in the NRS network in both quarters.

NRS POS Network

The NRS network comprises approximately 26,100 active POS terminals operating in approximately 22,800 independent retail stores. Its platform predominantly serves small-format, independent, retail stores including convenience stores, bodegas, liquor stores, grocers, and tobacco and sundries sellers. The network includes retailers in all 50 states and in 195 of the 210 designated market areas (DMAs) in the U.S. Over the past twelve months, NRS’ POS terminals have processed $16.0 billion in sales through approximately 1.14 billion transactions.