Mass Merchant

By Chris Donnelly, managing director for retail, Accenture Strategy   What do supermarkets have to gain from a price war? Judging from the battles that have been raging around the world of late, the answer is--nothing. Experience shows that they are truly a “race to the bottom”--aside from the consumer, the only possible winner is the lowest cost provider. Food retailers, however, have options for how to avoid getting drawn into a costly price war.   

Houston –- Mattress Firm Holding Corp. has completed its $245 million acquisition of West Coast bedding specialty retailer The Sleep Train Inc. Sleep Train operates approximately 310 specialty mattress retail stores located in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada and Hawaii, and reported net sales of approximately $471 million for the 2013 fiscal year.  

New York -- L'Oreal USA will acquire New York-based omnichannel beauty retailer Carol's Daughter, which sells its products through specialty beauty stores, mass retailers, HSN, e-commerce and two Carol's Daughter-branded stores in New York City.

New York -- Saks Fifth Avenue announced that it plans to close its Saks Fifth Avenue store in the Shops at Riverside in Hackensack, N.J. The store is expected to close in late 2014.   “Closing a location is never an easy business decision. At this time, we are committed to offering support and assistance to our team affected by the closing,” commented Marigay McKee, President of Saks Fifth Avenue.

By Les Berglass    The appointments of new chief executives of major brands always cause a stir, but Gap Inc.’s recent announcement that Art Peck would succeed Glenn Murphy hit Wall Street like a truck. Why? Because the investment community  wanted a more predictable, standing CEO—it likes stability. But the truth is, this is a positive and revolutionary change.   

Chicago -- More than 80% of shoppers visit three or more channels to carry out CPG shopping, according to IRI’s new Times & Trend report, “Channel Migration: The Road to Growth Has Many Lanes”.   

Beachwood, Ohio --DDR Corp. and an affiliate of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII announced that a joint venture formed by the pair has closed on the acquisition of 71 shopping centers previously owned by American Realty Capital Properties for $1.93 billion.