Gelson's

New York -- Whether your company is already in the cloud or still on the fence about making the move, retailers can gain additional insight at “Legacy Modernization to the Cloud,” a FREE roundtable luncheon moderated by Chain Store Age. Attendees will learn how to move legacy workloads to the Cloud at a low cost and repurpose the savings on strategic imperatives like loyalty, mobile, and seamless digital connections.

The physical and virtual retail worlds continue to converge thanks to innovative technology, especially as consumers rapidly adopt digital solutions and apply them to their retailing experiences.

“Consumer-driven solutions are what keep customers at the epicenter of the shopping experience, and that’s what retail is all about,” said Sahir Anand, VP and research group director for Aberdeen Group, Boston.

Palto Alto, Calif. -- Personalization of the in-store customer experience will be a key objective for retailers over the next two years, according to two new Aberdeen Group reports sponsored by HP.

According to the 100 senior retail executives surveyed from industries such as apparel, grocery and department stores, 76% do not possess the technology tools or the business processes for executing web, catalog or special orders from stores. This challenge is being fueled by rising consumer expectations of rich, multimedia in-store shopping experiences.

Los Angeles -- Supermarket retailer Arden Group reported Wednesday that the company earned $3.5 million in the quarter ended Oct. 2, compared with net income of $4.7 million in the year-ago period.

The parent of Southern California supermarket chain Gelson's Markets cited economic conditions and competition for the profit decline.

Revenue decreased 3% to $100.3 million. Same-store sales fell 3.3%.