Supermarket/Grocery

New York -- A new IBM study of more than 30,000 global consumers found that consumers are willing to share their personal information with retailers, particularly if they get good value in exchange.

According to the findings, the percentage of consumers willing to share their current location via GPS with retailers nearly doubled year-over-year to 36%. Thirty-eight percent of consumers would provide their mobile number for the purpose of receiving text messages and 32% would share their social handles with retailers.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Sears Holdings Corp. forecast a fourth-quarter loss and reported declining sales during the crucial holiday period.

New York -- Sam Martin, president and CEO of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., has left the company, Produce News reported.

Former Barnes & Noble executive Jamie Iannone was named president and CEO of Samsclub.com in a restructuring that elevates and integrates Sam’s Club’s online business into the Walmart’s Global eCommerce business unit based in California.

Iannone previously served as president of digital products at Barnes & Noble and oversaw the book seller’s Nook Media unit. He also spent seven years at eBay, earned a bachelor’s degree at Princeton and an MBA at Stanford.

Declining sales at Sears during the holiday period prompted the company to announce that it anticipates a fourth-quarter loss.

The company expects a net loss of between $250 million and $360 million for the quarter, compared to a net loss of $460 million a year earlier. Same-store sales dropped 5.7% in the quarter through Jan. 6 at Kmart, and 9.2% at U.S. Sears stores , resulting in a for a companywide decline of 7.4%.

Last year, Cedar Realty Trust shook off the last vestiges of its recession. Upon taking the reins of Cedar, new president and CEO Bruce Schanzer set in motion a short-term strategic plan in third quarter 2011. The plan was to sell nearly half of the company’s 140 properties owned in 2011 and streamline its property-type and geographic focus, while reducing leverage over the following two years. While the results for 2013 are being tallied now, performance during the first three quarters suggest a very good year of solid results.

New York -- Former Barnes & Noble executive Jamie Iannone has been appointed president and CEO of Samsclub.com in a restructuring that integrates Sam’s Club’s online business into the Walmart’s Global eCommerce business unit based in California. Previously, most of the warehouse club’s online business was run separately out of the retailer’s headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.

Lindt and Sprungli has introduced a bevy of new premium chocolate offerings, with flavor combinations ranging from sweet-and-salty to delicate milk chocolate. 

The new product offerings include Lindor Coconut truffles, Classic Recipe Caramel with Sea Salt bars, special additions to the Lindt Chocolate Specialties line, and the first-ever Lindt Brownie Mixes.