Mass Merchant

Small suppliers looking to establish business relationships with Massmart following Walmart’s acquisition of a controlling stake in the company would be well served to learn the correct pronunciation of Mncane Mthunzi.

Mthunzi will fill a new supplier development role at Massmart and comes to the retailer from an organization known as the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa where he served as CEO and Massmart CEO Grant Pattison serves as chairman.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Members of the Retail Industry Leaders Association on Wednesday arrived in Joplin, Mo., to help clean up the Midwest city that was hard-hit in May by a category F-5 tornado.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target announced that it will once again offer its "Back in Black Friday" online-only sale on July 15. The sale will start around midnight (PST) and end at 11:59 p.m. at Target.com/BlackFriday.

“Target is always looking at ways to provide our guests with outstanding value,” said Steve Eastman, president of Target.com. “Our Back in Black Friday online-only sale is a great example – offering our guests a summer Black Friday with thousands of deals on their favorite products.”

Dallas -- Tuesday Morning Corp. reported Wednesday that revenue for the quarter ended June 30 declined 3% to $194.8 million, compared with $200.8 million in the year-ago period.

Same-store sales dropped 4.5% in the quarter.

The closeout retailer cut its guidance for the year.

For the full year, revenue dipped almost 1% to $821.3 million. Same-store sales fell 1.2%.
 

MINNEAPOLIS — Free Standing Insert coupon activity dropped 3.9% over the first six months of 2011 versus the same time period a year ago, Marx, a Kantar Media solution, reported on Wednesday. 

The decline is the first reported in the first half of the year since 2008, when there was a 3.4% decline. 

“After several years of significant growth, FSI coupon activity may be stabilizing while more integrated print and digital coupon promotion tactics are emerging,” stated Mark Nesbitt, president of Kantar Media Intelligence North America.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreen Co. said Wednesday its board has authorized a new $2 billion stock buyback program.

The drugstore retailer completed a previously announced $1 billion stock buyback program and now has approved a new $2 billion share repurchase program that expires Dec. 31, 2015.
 

Indianapolis -- Hhgregg announced Tuesday that it will open 10 new stores in south Florida, launching simultaneous grand-opening celebrations on July 14.

The new stores located in Miami, Broward and Palm Beach counties bring the total number of Hhgregg stores in Florida to 33, according to the retailer. The openings are in the communities of Aventura, Boca Raton, Ft. Lauderdale, Hialeah, Pembroke Pines, Miami, Plantation, Jensen Beach, East Wellington and West Palm Beach.

New York City -- Navarro Discount Pharmacy, which currently has 29 stores, has named CFO Juan Ortiz  to the position of CEO.

Ortiz succeeds CEO Steve Kaczynski, whose expertise in retail merchandising and marketing over the last 18 months has been instrumental in setting a strategic direction for the company and expanding its footprint in South Florida and nationally, the company said.