Retail

Meijer is practically giving away roughly 1 million turkeys this thanksgiving to help generate store traffic and boost transaction size.

The Grand Rapids, Mich.-based operator of 223 stores said it planned to repeat a turkey promotion from last year that involved selling birds at half off as long as shoppers spend at least $20. The pricing discount applies to any size, brand or type of turkey. In the case of Meijer brand frozen turkeys, that means the price will be 52 cents a pound.

Ross Stores Inc. has hired away the chief merchant at Stein Mart to lead merchandising at DD's Discounts.

Ross Stores announced that Brian Morrow will join the company as president and CMO at DD's effective Dec. 7. Morrow will report directly to Barbara Rentler, the company's CEO, and be responsible for directing all aspects of merchandising at DD's Discounts.

The New York attorney general's office has reached a settlement with Lowe's to refund up to 10% of flooring installation fees paid by more than 16,000 customers.

The Associated Press reports that Lowe’s, with 64 New York stores, overcharged the customers with a deceptive sales practice that it has since agreed to halt. The retailer had offered installation of carpeting, tile, wood and laminate flooring by third-party contractors at square-foot rates that were applied to materials bought, not those actually installed.

The changes that will come to the retail supply chain are just as profound as the changes that are happening now in the selling environment.

Stein Mart reported negative same-store sales growth on the same day that the company also lost its chief merchant to an off-price rival.

For the third quarter ended Oct. 31, Stein Mart comps fell 2.3%.

"Unseasonably warm weather impacted traffic and our sales during the third quarter," said Jay Stein, CEO. "We continue to have a positive outlook on our important fourth quarter holiday sales which will include incremental sales from six new stores opened through the third quarter plus four more new stores opening in November."

The Walgreens Boots Alliance/Rite Aid deal can pass Federal Trade Commission scrutiny with as little as 170 retail store divestitures, according to a proprietary analysis conducted by Credit Suisse, but the company will more likely be required to sell off some 950 stores.

HHgregg 's CEO says the company is on track to meet key financial objectives even though it posted negative same-store sales growth and a larger loss in the second quarter.

The Oct. 1 EMV deadline has come and gone, but for some merchants, the technical headache still remains, and continues to interfere with fourth quarter planning.

While some retailers have proactively met the challenge and are already EMV-enabled, (and to them, kudos!), data shows that by the end of 2015, only half of U.S. retailers will have made the change.