Strategy

Tampa, Fla. — Publix has selected Applied Data Corporation’s InterScale scales management software to transmit data to and from the barcode labeling scales in its stores. 

ADC is a leading provider of fresh item management (FIM), recipe management and scales management software for the grocery retail and food service industries. 

Washington, D.C. -- Applied Predictive Technologies said Monday that AutoZone has extended its relationship with APT to license APT’s Test & Learn Management System on a long-term basis.

AutoZone will continue implementing the Test & Learn Management System to assess strategic marketing, capital expenditure, merchandising, labor, and store operations initiatives.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl’s Corp. said Monday that it has opened a new IT office in Silicon Valley. The 52,000-sq.-ft. office space in Milpitas, Calif., will be an extension of the IT team at the company’s Menomonee Falls, Wis., corporate office and will initially employ 30-plus Kohl’s associates with the potential to accommodate future growth, said the retailer.

BERKELEY, Calif. — Annie's, a leading natural and organic food company, has appointed Ed Aaron to the newly created position of SVP of strategic planning and investor relations.

NEW YORK — CIT Group, a leading provider of financing and advisory services to small businesses and middle market companies, has named Todd Harrington Northeast regional sales manager of CIT Trade Finance.

He will report to Marc Heller, Northeast regional manager and international manager of CIT Trade Finance.

New York -- Giving a much-needed boost to J.C. Penney Co., George Soros’ Soros Fund Management bought 17.4 million shares of the troubled retailer, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  

The stake, which was seen as a vote of confidence in returning CEO Mike Ullman, makes the billionaire investor the fourth-largest Penney shareholder, with a 7.9% stake.

New York -- Consumer confidence dropped in April to a three-month low amid discouraging economic indicators, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Survey of Consumers.  

The index fell 2.8% in April to 76.4 from 78.6 a month earlier. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey was 73.5 after a preliminary April reading of 72.3.

The Michigan survey’s current conditions index, which measures Americans’ view of their personal finances, fell to 89.9 in April from 90.7 last month.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Leading firearms retailer Gander Mountain will open the state’s first dedicated Gander Mtn. Firearms Super Center in Rogers, Minn., by the end of April. It will be the retailer’s 12th store in the state.