Retail

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores posted disappointing results for its first quarter, with earnings down 5% as harsh winter weather kept shoppers away. The company also gave a weak earnings forecast for its current quarter that fell short of analysts' estimates.

For the period ended April 30, Wal-Mart earned $3.59 billion, compared with $3.78 billion a year ago, less than analysts expected. In addition to the unusually harsh winter weather, a higher-than-expected tax rate also hurt earnings, the retailer said.

Skechers USA has signed hall-of-fame quarterback legend Joe Namath to represent the high-performing men’s Relaxed Fit from Skechers footwear line. A new advertising campaign featuring Namath will begin in the fall.

“Broadway” Joe’s campaign launches with a new television commercial utilizing the same humorous tone set by spots for Relaxed Fit footwear featuring Joe Montana and Mark Cuban. The campaign will extend across all media with Namath appearing in print, outdoor, online and point-of-sale materials through 2015.

Merrillville, Ind. – Consumer buying club franchisor DrectBuy and eInfochips are collaborating for a business intelligence (BI) collaboration solution that integrates data from warehouse clubs and the DirectBuy e-commerce portal. The solution drives consumer behavior with an enhanced shopping experience, and also enables analytics for data-driven decision making.

New York -- Kohl’s Department Stores and Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions have teamed up with Plug and Play to participate in Plug and Play Retail, an accelerator program that is focused on technologies and teams innovating in the retail industry. (Based in Sunnyvale, California, Plug and Play is a business accelerator that specializes in growing tech startups.)

By Kathy Gersch, executive VP, Kotter International

Jackson, Texas - Convenience store operator Buc-ee’s is using a complete software, hardware and services solution from NCR. The NCR solution is helping to streamline operations as well as increase speed and reliability at the point-of-sale.
 

Hy-Vee has won the 2014 RFID Journal Award for “Best Use of RFID to Enhance a Product or Service” at this year’s RFID Journal Live Event in Orlando, Fla. Hy-Vee, along with its technology provider, TempTRIP, implemented the first complete cold-chain management system for retail to monitor temperature of perishable foods from the vendor to the distribution center and continuing to the store.

Chicago -- General economic conditions, federal, state and/or local regulations, and retail competition/consolidation ranked as the top three risk factors cited by retailers, according to a survey by BDO USA. Rounding out the top five: U.S. and foreign supplier/vendor concerns and labor (health coverage, union concerns, staffing) concerns.