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May 16, 2012
Hawaiin boutique owner wins top prize in NRF's 'This is Retail' contest

Tanna Dang, co-owner of the Eden in Love boutique in Honolulu, Hawaii was awarded the top $25,000 prize in the National Retail Federation’s inaugural “This is Retail” video contest.

May 16, 2012
Staples Q1 suffers on flat U.S. sales

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — First it was OfficeMax, now Staples reported sales and earnings that were reflective of a struggling retail sector. The company reported that total sales for the first quarter of 2012 were $6.1 billion, a decrease of 1% in U.S. dollars and flat on a local currency basis compared with the first quarter of 2011. Net income for the first quarter of 2012 decreased 6% year-over-year to $187 million. Diluted earnings per share, on a GAAP basis, decreased 4% t to 27 cents from 28 cents achieved in the first quarter of 2011.

May 15, 2012
Kohl’s, Nordstrom, Target and Walgreens tops in Harris poll

Kohl’s, Nordstrom and Target ranked first in their categories in a new survey by Harris Interactive. The 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend (EQ) study surveyed Americans about brands across several retail segments, revealing which brands prompted them to open their hearts—and consequently—their pocketbooks.

May 15, 2012
Retail sales stagger in April

A Tuesday report by the Commerce Department showed that U.S. retail sales during the month of April edged up 0.1%, following a 0.7% gain in March and marking the smallest rise of the year so far.

May 14, 2012
Walgreens launches retail job training program for people with disabilities

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Monday launched its national Retail Employees with Disabilities Initiative, an in-store training program designed to help people with disabilities gain retail and customer service skills that works closely with community organizations and vocational rehabilitation agencies to train and develop candidates.

May 10, 2012
ComScore: Q1 online retail spending rose 17%

ComScore reported that online retail spending reached $44.3 billion for first quarter 2012, up 17% from the year-ago period.

May 10, 2012
That could have been us

News this week that Target would open its first standalone retail store offering its C9 brand of athletic apparel has the potential to be a big deal if Target follows the growth trajectory of another active lifestyle retailer.

May 9, 2012
Gap Inc.'s Piperlime to make retail store debut in NYC

Gap Inc.'s online shop, Piperlime, will make its retail store debut this fall, at 121 Wooster St. in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City.

May 8, 2012
Increases in retail container traffic expected through back-to-school season

Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports will be flat in May compared with the same month last year, but is expected to see solid year-over-year increases through this summer and the back-to-school season, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

May 8, 2012
OfficeMax Q1 profits drop on store closing costs

Charges related to store closures in the United States caused OfficeMax's first quarter net income to drop from $4.9 million, or 6 cents per diluted share, compared with $11.4 million, or 12 cents per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2011.

May 7, 2012
ShopperTrak: April 2012

Warm weather and shifting holidays in March caused retail foot traffic to dip in April. Retail foot traffic in April was 7.6% lower from March, and 2.7% lower on a year-over-year basis. The slow April is the first in the past 3 months to experience a decline in year-over-year and month-over-month retail foot traffic.

May 4, 2012
Kmart prescriptions going to the dogs (and cats)

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Kmart is introducing prescription pet medications at its stores, the mass-merchandise retail chain said Friday.

The company said the new program was designed to make it easier for customers to get branded and generic pet drugs and more convenient to shop for the whole family. More than 60% of American households own a pet, and families spent more than $50 billion on their pets in 2011, according to the American Pet Products Association.

May 3, 2012
Supervalu transitions EVP retail operations role to former Meijer executive

Pete Van Helden, EVP retail operations for Supervalu, will be leaving the company this spring.

May 2, 2012
CVS raises guidance on solid Q1 performance

CVS Caremark’s president and CEO Larry Merlo told analysts Wednesday morning that he was “very pleased” with its first quarter, as results across both the retail and pharmacy benefit management segments came in at the high end of expectations and its integrated assets continue to demonstrate success and improve patient lives.

May 2, 2012
IBM: Mobile commerce up 13%, but supply chain concerns remain

Mobile commerce increased more than 13% in the first quarter of 2012, according to IBM's first retail economic indicator, a cloud-based analytics report, which examines the state of the online retail sector.

May 2, 2012
Network of Executive Women honors Walmart chief Duke with diversity award

The Network of Executive Women is honoring Michael Duke, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores, with its William J. Grize Diversity Hall of Fame Award, on June 28 during Women's Day at the LPGA in Rogers Ark.

May 1, 2012
Cabela’s to deploy SAP point-of-sale application

SAP America Inc., a subsidiary of SAP AG, announced that Cabela’s Inc. has selected the SAP point-of-sale application to support its retail expansion and enhance its customer experience.

May 1, 2012
What Office Depot’s Q1 results say about the economy

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Sales continued to decline at two of Office Depot’s three divisions during the first quarter with weakness most pronounced in the retail business.

Total company sales declined 3% to $2.9 billion and were negatively affected by the ongoing struggles of the 1,123 unit North American retail division. Profits increased to $41 million or 14 cents a share compared with a prior year loss of $15 million or five cents a share.

April 30, 2012
Millennial shoppers hit hard by economic downturn

Millennial shoppers (consumers ages 18 to 34 years) now represent the highest percentage of Americans who do not have enough money to cover their basic needs, according to WSL/Strategic Retail, a leading authority on shopper behavior and retail trends.

April 26, 2012
Cabela's revenue, income up in Q1

Cabela's revenue for the first quarter increased 6.3% to $623.5 million and included a retail store revenue increase of 14.4% to $345.3 million and a direct revenue decrease of 8.3% to $190.2 million. For the quarter, comparable-store sales increased 4.2%.

April 23, 2012
Wal-Mart’s Mexican unit hit by bribery scandal

Wal-Mart Stores confirmed that it is investigating its operations in Mexico for possible violations of the U.S. law that prohibits bribery overseas.

April 19, 2012
Study: Twitter, LinkedIn appropriate social media building blocks for retail marketers

The Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council on Monday published the final installment of its five-part report on social media.

April 19, 2012
Tesco to focus on profitability before U.S. expansion

LONDON — The break-even forecast for the U.S. division of Tesco has been pushed back to early next year, the U.K. retail giant announced in its fiscal-year results.

April 17, 2012
Supervalu names new heads for Albertsons, Acme and Cub Foods

Supervalu has made three new executive appointments following the departure of Sue Klug, president of its Albertsons Southern California division.

April 16, 2012
U.S. retail sales rise more than expected in March

The Commerce Department said Monday that retail sales rose a better-than-expected 0.8% in March as job gains and warmer weather encouraged more consumers to shop.

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