Retail

With the dust settled from Target’s first-quarter earnings announcement last week, it has become quite apparent the company would not be faring well were it not for the beneficial effects of the PFresh remodeling program and last fall’s introduction of 5% REDcard Rewards.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe’s has announced plans to hire up to 300 information technology professionals, including 150 new positions. 

Lowe's reported that positions are now open across all IT professions, including business analysis, engineering, communications network, ecommerce, application development, program management and project management. The positiobns will be based at Lowe’s corporate headquarters in Mooresville, N.C.

Sharp pricing on an expanded assortment of food and consumables is one way for Target to get customers to shop its stores more frequently, but this week saw the company break out another type of trip generator with the cover of its weekly ad featuring tee shirts and shorts at an opening price point of $3.

At that price, moms have pretty low expectations of quality. Cut and color matter more than the finish work on seams, since the clothes only need to last for a couple months until summer. The garments will be outgrown by next summer and the cycle repeats itself.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.  — By now most consumers are at least somewhat familiar with the e-reader, namely Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook, but there's another e-reader on the market and Borders is banking on the device to help boost its business.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. — Sears Holdings announced that Sam Solomon has joined the company as SVP and president of its tools business.  Solomon is responsible for developing and driving growth and profit opportunities for one of the company's cornerstone businesses, the company reported.  He was recently CEO and president of The Coleman Company Inc.  

New York -- Apple on Sunday rolled out dedicated iPad stations in its stores nationwide. The iPads are positioned near products for customers to use as tools for comparision shopping and customer assistance. 

Apple's in-store iPads, which feature a special in-store app, are designed to answer questions from customers and keep them in the store. Customers can also tap a button for help and the photo of an available sales assistant pops up with a promise that he or she will be over shortly to help.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid has appointed David Kelly as group VP construction, the retail pharmacy chain said Monday.

Kelly, who has worked in real estate and development for more than 25 years, will start work May 31 and will have overall responsibility for all store planning and construction services, in addition to having a role in various segmentation initiatives, including Wellness, value and co-branded Save-A-Lot/Rite Aid stores. He will report directly to SVP, CFO and chief administrative officer Frank Vitrano.

Although Targets’ new e-commerce platform isn’t expected to relaunch for a few more months, it is worth acknowledging that the massive undertaking is on time and under budget. That isn’t the case a lot of times with big technology projects, and the complexity associated with Target’s e-commerce business coupled with the rapid pace of change in the mobile and social media world’s created the potential for costs and project timelines to get out of control.