Retail

Atlanta -- Infor, a provider of business application software, announced that American Apparel has selected and implemented the company’s WFM Workbrain solution to manage the retailer’s global workforce.

Chicago -- Year-over-year retail sales rose a solid 4% for the 2010 holiday shopping season (November/December), according to ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate.

Conversely, total U.S. foot traffic fell slightly below expectations as consumers continued the pattern retailers saw throughout 2010 of fewer mall and individual store visits with a larger spend. ShopperTrak’s revised holiday forecast called for a 1.8% traffic increase.

Miami -- Navarro Discount Pharmacies has signed a lease for a new 14,000-sq.-ft. store in North Miami, Fla. With a store opening planned for the summer, North Miami will be the company's 29th store location and its first new store opening since the airport location opened in 2007.

Atlanta -- Harrods is implementing a series of merchandise planning applications from Predictix. The software is being rolled out for Harrods' Knightsbridge store, as well as its airport locations and online site.

Harrods recognized a need to upgrade its current planning system to allow for more in-depth and more efficient forecasting processes.

Chelmsford, Mass. -- Kronos said Monday that fashion accessory retailer Charming Charlie has selected Kronos’ end-to-end workforce management solution to sustain growth, increase productivity and improve employee retention.

Charming Charlie selected the time and attendance, forecasting and scheduling, hiring, labor analytics and human resources and payroll applications from Kronos.

New York City -- Whole Foods Market is starting to roll out a new range of healthier prepared foods, nutritional scorecards and other changes as part of its return to its healthy eating roots, the Associated Press reported. 

The changes are part of the company’s "Health Starts Here” program. Among the changes Whole Foods is rolling out this year:

MINNEAPOLIS — Target is opening 21 stores across 12 states, the retailer announced Tuesday.

Among the openings include five stores in California, a third store in Hawaii and a SuperTarget in Minnesota.

“Target takes great pride in designing stores that meet the needs of our guests and the communities we serve,” said John Griffith, Target EVP. “With the addition of an expanded fresh food assortment, our new stores will offer guests everything they need in one convenient location.”

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- A 2.3% same-store sales gain at Kmart was not enough to offset a 6% decline at Sears resulting in an overall 1.7% decline for the combined companies domestic operations during the five week December reporting period ended Jan. 1.