Mass Merchant

The seventh installment in the Family Movie Night entertainment initiative between Procter & Gamble and Walmart is set to air this Saturday at 8 p.m. on NBC. The made-for-TV movie, Who is Simon Miller?, is billed as a heart-pounding summer spy drama that tests the limits to which families will fight for each other that will keep the whole family riveted.

Colorado Springs, Colo. -- Addison, Texas-based Coyote Management LP said that Jimmy John’s will open a 1,665-sq.-ft. sandwich shop at Chapel Hills Mall, in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The new restaurant is slated to open this fall.

Chapel Hills Mall is a two-level, 1.2 million-sq.-ft. enclosed super-regional mall anchored by Dillard’s, J.C. Penney, Macy’s, Sears, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Burlington Coat Factory.
 

Little reason to believe Sam’s Club won’t easily meet or possibly exceed second-quarter same-store guidance that calls for an increase of 3% to 5%, following reports this week from Costco and BJ’s Wholesale club. Sam’s results correlate closely to its warehouse club rivals, and they both reported solid gains even after excluding the distorting effect of higher year-over-year gas prices.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart announced that through its Acres for America program it is donating $500,000 to help protect, conserve and restore fragile urban ecosystems in Washington D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City. 

MINNEAPOLIS — July same-store sales at Target increase 4.1% on top of a prior year gain of 2%, with increase transaction size the primary driver of an increase toward the upward end of the company’s guidance.

New York City -- The nation’s specialty apparel retailers reported mixed results in July. as Hot Topic and Limited Brands turned in strong performances, while Gap and Aeropostale stumbled.

Hot Topic said its same-store sales rose 7.3% in July. far exceeding the 0.5% rise in analysts’ forecast. Hot Topic said the measure rose 6.2% at its namesake stores and rose 11.8% at its plus-sized Torrid division. The teen retailer also raised its second-quarter outlook.

New York City -- Sears Holdings Corp has named former FreshDirect executive Monica Woo to be VP and CMO, effective Aug. 15, according to Reuters. The post has been vacant since January 2010.

Woo will be responsible for the overall marketing, brand and advertising programs for Sears, according to the report. She most recently was the chief marketing and strategy officer of online grocer FreshDirect.
 

July same-store sales at Fred’s declined 0.5% and that’s not a particularly good sign for Walmart, as the company prepares to release its quarterly results on Aug. 16. Fred’s appeals to lower income shoppers at its 672 stores in the Southeastern U.S. where the company has considerable overlap with Walmart.