Strategy

Walmart this week modified a layaway program that had yet to begin after Toys "R" Us said it wouldn’t charge a service fee and lifted minimum purchase requirements for its program.

The layaway saga began in late August when Walmart said the start date of its layaway program would begin on September 16, a month earlier than the prior year. Curiously, Walmart also said at that time the fee to open a layaway account would increase to $15 from $5 the prior year.

Pittsburgh -- American Eagle Outfitters said Thursday it has struck a deal with Suyen Corp. that will see the AEO banner open throughout the Philippines.
 
American Eagle signed a multiyear retail license agreement with Suyen, which operates more than 700 stores under various banners in the Philippines, along with 126 franchised stores in the country. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The first stores in the country, which will consist of standalone and in-store shops, are slated to open spring 2013.
 

NEW YORK — Safeway will package $150 million in real healthcare savings into an overall wellness strategy to be implemented over the course of 2013, the grocer's chairman and CEO Steve Burd told analysts Thursday morning at the Goldman Sachs 19th Annual Global Retailing Conference.

New York -- The Walt Disney Co. on Thursday will open its first store under the Disney Baby banner, USA Today reported. The new store is located in Americana, an upscale shopping center in Glendale, Calif.

“This gives Disney the opportunity to reach out to moms when magical moments begin," Bob Chapek, president of Disney Consumer Products, told USA Today. "There's no more special occasion than the birth of a baby."

WASHINGTON — The Grocery Manufacturers Association has named Elise Fennig as VP industry affairs.

Little Rock, Ark. -- Dillard’s said Thursday that it has appointed Chris Johnson as its VP real estate. He succeeds James Cherry, Jr., who retired in December.

Johnson, a CPA, was previously VP of accounting for the department store retailer.
 

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreen Co. reported Thursday that same-store sales for the month of August slid 8.2%. The report came on the heels of Wednesday’s announcement that Tricare would not reinstate the drug retailer into the pharmacies approved to fill prescriptions.

Houston -- The Men's Wearhouse Inc. reported Wednesday that net income for the quarter ended July 28 rose to $59.4 million, from $57.1 million in the year-ago period.

Sales edged up 1% to $662.3 million, narrowly missing Wall Street’s expected $662.9 million in revenue. Same-store sales grew 4.4% at namesake stores, but fell 3.3% at K&G stores.

The company has raised its guidance for full-year 2012.