Retail

Walmart president and CEO Bill Simon prefaced his comments at the Goldman Sach Global Retailing Conference by saying he wouldn’t have much to say. That proved to not be the case as Simon said a lot about a wide range of subjects.
 

Wayne, N.J. -- Toys “R” Us is updating its in-store shopping experience and expanding its omnichannel initiatives for its more important selling season. The retailer detailed its plans on Thursday at a special holiday preview event in New York City.

Starting in October, Toys “R” Us will expand and enhance product categories that have experienced sales growth over the past few years, notably education, tablets and construction, while reducing the space dedicated to areas that have underperformed over time.

District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray this week vetoed one of the most wrong-headed regulations ever proposed and the nation’s two leading retail trade groups were quick to praise the action.

New York -- In separate announcements on Thursday, Bi-Lo Holdings and Harris Teeter on Thursday announced plans to acquire select Piggly Wiggly-branded stores.

Bi-Lo said it has entered into a definitive agreement with Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company to acquire 22 Piggly Wiggly stores in South Carolina and coastal Georgia.  

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Ocean City, Md. — Fractured Prune Doughnuts has announced a national expansion projecting 50 new store agreements in the next six months. The next Fractured Prune www.fracturedprune.com will open in St. George, Utah, on Sept. 24.

The brightly colored doughnut shops promote always hot doughnuts, available all ways and offers 15 glazes and 15 toppings.

Lululemon Athletica seems to be putting the recall of its see-through yoga pants earlier this year behind it. The company reported net revenue of $344.5 million for the second quarter ended Aug. 4, a 22% increase from $282.6 million in the prior-year quarter. Comparable stores sales for the quarter increased by 8%.

New York -- On their recent earnings (second quarter) call with analysts, Coldwater Creek CEO Jill Brown Dean and CFO/COO James Bell talked technology, specifically discussing the results of the company’s implementation of the new Oracle-based inventory planning system.

The implementation was competed in March 2013, Bell noted. He added that while the company had, in recent years, developed many inventory management disciplines, it was lacking adequate tools to fully maximize its inventory investment.       

West Orange, N.J. — Paul V. Profeta and Associates, a real estate investment firm, has completed the sale of 12 Walgreens properties in nine states to Inland Real Estate Acquisitions. The purchase price was $60 million or more than $330 per square foot.

All of the properties are occupied under long-term 75-year triple-net leases with the Walgreens pharmacy chain. Walgreens has the right to cancel after 25 years.