Lowe's

Arlington, Va. - The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), along with several retail brands, has launched the Retail Cyber Intelligence Sharing Center (R-CISC), the centerpiece of which is a Retail Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Retail-ISAC).

New York -- There are more store closings in Sears’ future. In an address at Sears Holding Corp.’s annual shareholders meeting, chairman and CEO Edward Lampert said the company would close stores and look for ways to leverage its real estate as it continues to focus on integrated omnichannel retail and its Shop Your Way rewards program.

"Closing stores is going to be part of our future," Lampert said. "I'd rather do (fewer closures) rather than more, but the world has shifted."

Venice, Fla. — Carrabba’s Italian Grill has signed a long-term ground lease for a 1.31-acre outparcel in the parking lot of the Lowe’s Home Improvement store in Venice, Florida. Carrabba’s plans to begin the construction of a new restaurant immediately, with the grand opening slated for late this year.

Mooresville, N.C. - Lowe's and Porch.com have expanded their strategic partnership to the more than 1,700 Lowe's home improvement stores across the U.S. Every Lowe's store in the country now features Porch as the in-store resource to help homeowners find home improvement professionals for nearly any project outside of Lowe's current installation services.

Lowe's and Porch.com have expanded their strategic partnership to the more than 1,700 Lowe's home improvement stores across the U.S.

Every Lowe's store in the country now features Porch as the in-store resource to help homeowners find the right home improvement professionals for nearly any project outside of Lowe's current installation services. In addition, home improvement service professionals can sign up for a free Porch profile to help increase the exposure of their business to homeowners in need of their specific services.

Lowe's has promoted Michael P. McDermott to chief merchandising officer, replacing Michael A. Jones, who will assume the role of chief customer officer, effective April 30. The company also named Joseph M. (Mike) Mabry as strategy and experience design executive, replacing Robert J. Gfeller, who left the company last month.

Both Mabry and McDermott will report to Jones.

Because it is a global company with five country-specific sites and plans to expand, Toms recently extended its initial six-month engagement with TAISTech for two additional years. TAISTech will provide ongoing maintenance and support for all of the Toms sites that currently use the Oracle Commerce ATG and Endeca platform.

TAISTech provides flexible ATG support plans through onshore, offshore or blended models. Toms selected the offshore model, which provides lower overall costs, coupled with high-quality, responsive solutions.
 

New York -- Sears Holdings Corp. said its board has approved the spin on of its Lands’ End business, effective April 4, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
 
The agreement, which was announced in December, will make Lands' End an independent company that will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol “LE.”

Sears stockholders on record as of March 24 will receive about 0.3 shares of Lands' End common stock for each share of Sears they own.

Mooresville, N.C. -- Lowe's Companies Inc. has named Michael A. Jones has been named the company's chief customer officer, effective April 30. Jones currently serves as Lowe's chief merchandising officer, overseeing the full merchandise offering for all Lowe's U.S. stores and Lowes.com, as well as all global sourcing activities.

Mooresville, N.C. – Customer interest in core home improvement categories helped lift profits at Lowe’s Companies Inc. during the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2013.

Lowe’s fourth quarter earnings rose 6% to $306 million from $282 million in the year-ago period. Full year net earnings climbed 17% to $2.29 billion from $1.96 billion.