Strategy

Recent advances in floor care technology have made matters more complex, as retailers must decide what combination of cleaning procedures provide the best value. Today’s retail Facility Manager must determine the materials (from machinery to matting), the schedule (daily, weekly, monthly and even yearly), and the

When it comes to supply chain leadership and best practices, a fast food chain beat out the world’s leading e-commerce and discount retailers.

According to the new Gartner Inc. Supply Chain Top 25 ranking, McDonald’s led all retail chains with the number two ranking. Consumer products giant Unilever ranked first among all companies.

Select Comfort continues to expand with the opening of its 500th Sleep Number store.

Located in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, the new location features the brand’s latest store design and experience, which is interactive and educational. It’s one of 50 net new stores the retailer plans to open in 2016.

With a young, trend-conscious customer base, Forever 21 needs to cater to shopper demand, in and out of the store.

The Los Angeles-based, 760-store-plus specialty apparel retailer is extending this seamless, customer-centric approach to how it offers customers credit. Forever 21 is partnering with marketing and loyalty solutions provider Alliance Data Systems Corp. to provide private label and co-branded credit card services that are integrated with its loyalty program.

In a program called LA25, Target Corp. is testing an array of new initiatives, ranging from sleeker apparel fixtures to dedicated service stations for online order pick-ups, at 25 locations in California. The retailer plans to spend $1 billion this year to spruce up its in-store shopping experience, with a portion of that being devoted to remodels, TheStreet reported.

In a quarter of strong home improvement demand, Mooresville, North Carolina-based Lowe’s reported net earnings of $884 million for the quarter ended April 29, a 31.4% increase over the same quarter lat year. Sales for the quarter increased 7.8% to $15.2 billion. Comp-store sales increased 7.3% overall, and increased 7.5% for the U.S. business.

The nation’s two leading retail associations issued critical statements in response the release of the overtime rule by the U.S. Department of Labor. Under the new regulation, issued by the Labor Department on Wednesday, most salaried workers earning up to $47,476 a year must receive time-and-a-half overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours during a week. The previous cutoff for overtime pay, set back in 2004, was $23,660.

Ace Hardware took home "record" first quarter revenues of $1.2 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 4.3% over last year. The message was a little more muddled for earnings. Though its first quarter net income of $26.1 million was down 12.7% year-over-year, that figure was still 12.0% ahead of plan. It was also a planned reduction owing to the timing of promotions.