Mass Merchant

The word competition gets tossed around a lot in the retail industry as operators talk about market positioning -- who they do and don’t compete with. Oftentimes, companies will refer to direct competitors, but one thing about Walmart is that it has always tended to take the broad view of competition in that any company, no matter how small, who sold anything offered at Walmart was viewed as a competitor.

NEW YORK - Everlast Worldwide announced the signing of a long-term, direct-to-retail licensing deal with Sears Holdings. Through the agreement, Sears Holdings will have the U.S. license for the Everlast brand in their 850 Sears doors and the Everlast Sport brand in 1,325 Kmart doors as well as launching on sears.com and kmart.com. The long-term agreement gives Sears and Kmart the rights to the Everlast brand for apparel, footwear and accessories for men, women and kids. Sears and Kmart plan to launch the brand nationwide beginning in the spring of 2011.

Teradata, the data warehousing and enterprise analytics leader, has a new deal with Walmart to help the retailer store, manipulate and analyze the expanding volume of information that results from selling more than $400 billion worth of goods annually.

Walmart turned to Facebook to spread awareness of hunger with an innovative initiative to determine how $1.5 million in grant money will be divvied up among 100 U.S. cities, but the social media effort is ending soon and Walmart is encouraging last minute “likes” as the New Years Day deadline approaches.

According to a new survey from customer intelligence firm, Market Force Information, The Children's Place is consumers' top pick for young children's (10 and younger) apparel when the votes are indexed for the number of stores. The Children's Place earned 17% of the votes, while Gymboree ranked second (13%), and Kohl's and Carter's tied for third with 12%. For children 11 and older, Aeropostale was ranked favorite retailer with 17% of the votes, followed closely by Kohl's (16%) and then Old Navy (10%).

QUINCY, Mass. - Retailer Work 'N Gear announced that it has teamed up with Sears and Kmart to launch America's first "store-within-a store" concept for healthcare fashions in select locations in six markets.

Called "Scrubology", the retail concept feature approximately 600 to 1,500 sq. ft. of space within Sears and Kmart stores, dedicated to the uniform needs of professionals who work as doctors, nurses, veterinarians, lab technicians and more.

MINNEAPOLIS - Best Buy reported net earnings of $217 million, or 54 cents per diluted share, for its fiscal third quarter, compared with $227 million, or 53 cents per diluted share, for the prior-year period.

The willingness of discount-store shoppers to pay a premium for products with a celebrity connection will be put to the test next week when the new line of William Rast apparel hits Target stores. The line includes premium denim, leather and outerwear items with prices beginning at $16.99 and extending all the way to the department store territory of $199.99. The limited duration merchandising initiative is due to hit stores on Dec.19 and runs through Jan. 22.