Strategy

Cincinnati -- A Monday report by the Cincinnati Business Courier said that Kroger Co. is planning to spend about $15 million to renovate four stores in the Cincinnati area in 2011.

The grocery retailer said it plans to renovate stores in Westwood, Madeira and Montgomery, Ohio, as well as a store in Cold Spring, Ky.

The Westwood and Montgomery locations are scheduled for renovation in the first half of 2011, while Kroger is still finalizing the renovation plans for the Madeira and Cold Spring stores.

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney announced that its new Foundry Big & Tall Supply Co. division will launch a new retail concept catering to the men’s big-and-tall customer. With plans to open 300 stores -- as well as an e-commerce website -- over the next five years, The Foundry Big & Tall Supply Co. will carry an extensive assortment of national men’s brands along with The Foundry Supply Co. private brand merchandise, offering an upscale, one-stop-shop for the big-and-tall customer, J.C. Penney reported.

Brussels, Belgium -- Delhaize Group announced on Monday that AllianceBernstein LP lifted its voting stake in the food retailer to 5.04%.

The New York asset manager, a member of France's AXA group, now holds 5.11 million Delhaize shares, compared with 3.73 million as of Oct. 5, Delhaize reported.

By Dan McKone

We are often asked for the “secret sauce” behind a successful loyalty program and whether we can provide a blueprint that can help retailers optimize their approach. In answer, there is no single generic “ideal program” -- the retailer-customer relationship is far too complex to dumb down in this way. The best program for one retailer may be absolutely the wrong plan-of-attack for another, depending on their starting points in terms of:

1. The depth and breadth of the customer relationship;

Amarillo, Texas -- Multimedia entertainment retailer Hastings Entertainment reported Monday that it recorded a loss of $3.1 million for the quarter ended Oct. 31, compared with a loss of $3.4 million in the year-ago period.

Total revenues for the third quarter were flat at $112.3 million.

Total same-store revenues increased 1.3% for the quarter. Merchandise same-store revenues increased 1.2% for the quarter and rental same-store revenues increased 2.2% for the quarter.