Consumer Affairs & Relations

Report: Wal-Mart orders improved grocery sales
Bentonville, Ark. –- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reportedly sent a memo to marketing managers on Oct. 2 saying that sales need to improve for chilled and fresh items in stores, including dairy, meat and produce.

According to the New York Times, the memo cited customer complaints about expired items, as well as the need for less backup inventory and the rotation of perishable items.
Best Buy to open 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving, one hour earlier than last year
Minneapolis -- Best Buy has joined the ranks of retailers that have moved up the time their stores will open on Thanksgiving Day. The consumer electronics giant said Tuesday that some 1,000 of its stores will open at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, which is one hour earlier than last year. The stores will close at 1 a.m. Friday before reopening at 8 a.m. on November 28 (Black Friday) and close at 10 p.m. that day.

Founding officer of Costco dies at 72

Issaquah, Wash. -- Robert Craves, 72, a founding officer of Costco, died last week shortly after being diagnosed with cancer, The Seattle Times reported.
Long-time Costco exec Craves dies

Former Costco executive Robert Craves died last week shortly after being diagnosed with cancer, The Seattle Times reported. He was 72.
Deeper Dive: Apple Pay vs. CurrentC

CurrentC, the mobile payment service under development from a retailer consortium known as Merchant Customer Exchange, or MCX, has been getting a lot of attention in the past week. First MCX members CVS and Rite Aid disabled their NFC payment systems to block the rival ApplePay mobile payment service, and then hackers stole the emails of CurrentC users. And despite all this publicity, CurrentC is still in pilot mode.
Moody’s forecasts 4- to 5% sales increase in 2015

New York -- The outlook for the U.S. retail industry in 2015 is stable, according to a new report by Moody’s Investor Service, which forecasts that retail sales will grow 3- to 4% in 2014, and 4- to 5% in 2015. The report, Moody’s U.S. Retail Industry Outlook, also finds that traditional brick-and-mortar retailers will be formidable competitors to pure-play online merchants.
Sprouts beats Street with Q3 profit

Phoenix, Ariz. -- Net income at Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. soared 79% to $26.1 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 from $14.6 million in the same quarter a year earlier. A reduction in pretax losses helped boost net income growth.
Dollar General celebrates Veterans Day

Dollar General will honor veterans and their families with a special 11% discount on all qualifying purchases, in-store and online, on Tuesday, November 11, 2014.
Study: Retailers will apply Big Data analytics on front end

London, U.K. -- Analytics will be applied in front-end as well as back-end applications in retail. According to a new study from Frost & Sullivan, the aim of every retailer is to integrate data from multiple channels to provide an omnichannel experience for the customer.
Target names GM exec to new role

Jacqueline Hourigan Rice will join Target Dec. 1 as the retailer’s SVP of risk and compliance after holding a similar role at General Motors.

In her new role Rice will assume some responsibilities previously held by Ann Scovil who retired in March as vp of assurance, risk and compliance. Rice will also have responsibility for corporate security and Target’s suppliers. She will report directly to Target CEO Brian Cornell who joined the company in August.

Consumer Affairs & Relations

Report: Wal-Mart orders improved grocery sales

Best Buy to open 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving, one hour earlier than last year

Founding officer of Costco dies at 72

Long-time Costco exec Craves dies

Deeper Dive: Apple Pay vs. CurrentC

Moody’s forecasts 4- to 5% sales increase in 2015

Sprouts beats Street with Q3 profit

Dollar General celebrates Veterans Day

Study: Retailers will apply Big Data analytics on front end

Target names GM exec to new role