Strategy

New York -- Supply Chain Optimization, a special online report by Chain Store Age, looks at how changing demand, multiple channels and increased consumer expectations are redefining the retail landscape and putting increased emphasis on supply chain infrastructures.

Learn how to gain a competitive advantage by having a more efficient, flexible and, responsive supply chain.

Download the report.

PAWTUCKET, R.I. — Hasbro has acquired a majority stake in Backflip Studios, a company that develops mobile games such as DragonVale, NinJump and Paper Toss.

Mississauga, Ont. -- Target plans to open the doors to an additional 20 stores in Canada between July 16 and July 30. The stores will be located in in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario
 
The openings mark Target’s first openings in Saskatchewan and follow the unveiling of 48 stores across Canada earlier this year. The new 20 locations officially push Target past the halfway mark for store openings this year. The retailer plans to open 124 stores across Canada throughout 2013.

The Limited helped changed the way women shop for apparel 50 years ago and this month it is commemorating the occasion with digitally inspired promotions the company’s founders could never have imagined.

Department store executive and Target co-founder Douglas Dayton died Saturday of cancer at 88.

Dayton was the inspiration for the first Target stores and oversaw the development and early growth of the concept of an upscale discount store. Dayton served as Target's first president in 1961 and a year later he opened the first Target stores in the Twin Cities communities of Roseville, Crystal, St. Louis Park and Knollwood.

New York -- Belle Foods plans to close 13 stores by Aug. 3, including six in Alabama, according to a report by the Birmingham Business Journal. The shutters are part of a reorganization following the chain’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

Of the 13 store closures, 12 are Food Worlds and one is a Piggly Wiggly.

Watsonville, Calif. -- West Marine has released its BlueFuture(R) 2012 Sustainability Report. The study encompasses the retailer’s company-wide efforts focusing on sustainability, including improving and protecting the marine environments, reducing the company's carbon footprint and encouraging people to enjoy being out on the water.

Included in the report is a reduction in the company’s greenhouse gas of 4.29% year over year, with an over 17.5% reduction since its 2007 baseline.

Denver -- Natural Grocers has opened its third Nebraska store in central Omaha, Neb. It is the second Omaha store and the 89th store in the organic grocery chain.

The family-run chain, which went public in 2012, has locations across Colorado, Texas, Utah, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Missouri, New Mexico, Montana, Kansas, Idaho, Nebraska, Arizona and Oregon.