Marketing

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid Corp. reported Thursday that it narrowed its loss in the first quarter to $28.1 million, from a loss of $63.1 million in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue rose 1.2% to $6.5 billion from $6.4 billion, edging Wall Street’s forecasted $6.47 billion in revenue.

Same-store sales increased 2.5% in the quarter.

Mexico City -- Wal-Mart Stores’ Mexico subsidiary said Wednesday that new store openings for 2012 will be cut from the originally planned 410 to 430 stores to 325 to 335, due in large part to added real estate documentation procedures.

Expansion plans for new stores will be delayed by 60 to 90 days, said Wal-Mart Mexico, as the retailer institutes reinforced documentation around real estate projects. Wal-Mart Mexico has been in the throes of a bribery scandal involving alleged payments to middlemen to accelerate the store-opening process.

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Kohl’s Department Stores is boosting its high-fashion image with the launch of a new, limited-edition collection concept called DesigNation featuring fashions from different premier designeres.  Narcisco Rodriguez will be the first designer featured in the series. The collection will include pieces inspired by Rodriguez’s trip to Istanbul, Turkey earlier this year and will be available exclusively at Kohl’s and Kohls.com beginning in early-November 2012.

NEW YORK and MONTVALE, N.J. — Grocer A&P has inked an exclusive partnership with BrightFarms, becoming the only retailer of BrightFarms’ Brooklyn-grown produce from the world’s largest rooftop farm.

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Sheets, makers of dissolvable energy strips, has partnered with Walmart and Pitbull to launch a local Facebook page contest among local Walmart stores, to offer customers the chance to win a visit by Mr. Worldwide.

LOS ANGELES — TruConnect Mobile LLC has launched a new prepaid mobile broadband service called Internet on the Go, exclusively at Walmart.

The new offering features a service plan from TruConnect with no monthly fee and where the data balance never expires (if used once a year). This is different from other low-cost prepaid monthly services where unused megabytes are wasted at the end of the month – potentially driving up the cost.

MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu's Essential Everyday private-label line will include 2,700 products across more than 100 categories by 2013.

Essential Everyday products, which are available at approximately 3,300 stores nationwide — including Supervalu's family of stores — currently features more than 1,200 items across more than 40 categories. The expanded Essential Everyday brand lineup was introduced in New York last week by chef and cookbook author Antonia Lofaso.

New York -- Starbucks Coffee Co. keeps branching out. After opening its first juice store (Evolution Fresh), the company plans to open a tea store under its Tazo brand in Seattle this fall, Bloomberg reported.

The shop will sell more than 80 varieties of loose-leaf tea, which will be priced by the ounce, the report said. It will also offer pastries, baked goods and packaged chocolates.
 

New York -- J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson is taking over direct responsibility for marketing in the wake of the departure of Michael Francis, who left the company abruptly on Monday, Women’s Wear Daily reported.

Speculation has been raging about the reasons behind Francis’ sudden exit after just eight months on the job. In the article, Johnson blamed it on the fact that J.C. Penney’s marketing had not resonated with its core customer and that he “had to get involved.”

Norristown, Pa. -- As part of its continuing commitment to sustainability, USM Inc. has recently received LEED Silver CI (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Commercial Interiors) certification for its headquarters facility in Norristown, Pa. The facility opened in October 2011.
 
A national provider of interior and exterior facilities maintenance programs, USM is a subsidiary of EMCOR Group, a leader  in mechanical and electrical construction, energy infrastructure, and facilities services for a diverse range of businesses.