Retail

Atlanta – The Home Depot is taking steps to make amends for a racist tweet it sent from its official account on Nov. 7. The tweet, a promotion aligned with ESPN college football coverage, showed a photo of two African-Americans playing the drums along with a person wearing a gorilla mask and the caption: “Which drummer is not like the others?”

San Bernardino, Calif. — Stater Bros. has announced the opening of a new supermarket in Moreno Valley, Calif., on Nov. 13. A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held in the parking lot at 8:15 a.m.

The 43,670-sq.-ft. store will be the fourth location for Stater Bros. in Moreno Valley.

Kroger is expanding its presence in one of the nation’s most competitive retail markets.

The grocery retailer plans to open five new Marketplace stores and expand the size of three existing locations in North Texas in the next two years — a capital investment of $150 million. The company also plans to open multiple fuel centers and remodel existing properties. The growth initiative will create more than 1,700 full- and part-time career opportunities that offer competitive pay, healthcare plans, retirement options, product discounts and other incentives.

Deerfield, Ill. – Walgreen Co. has completed its acquisition of certain assets of Kerr Drug’s retail drugstores and specialty pharmacy business. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Leiden, Netherlands – Ikea is deploying a standardized, comprehensive and internationally deployed POS software platform from Wincor-Nixdorf. During the next two years, Ikea will install nearly 12,000 POS terminals at 300 stores in 25 countries using Wincor Nixdorf’s TP Application Suite and TP.net software.

Shopper activity increased this October, in line with ShopperTrak expectations. Total retail store shopper traffic increased 2.4% compared to September 2013. Consumers who were off work for the Columbus Day holiday (Monday, Oct. 14) took advantage of store promotions to update their cold-weather wardrobes. Many others hit the stores to gather costumes, candies and other necessities for Halloween (Thursday, Oct. 31).

Oak Brook, Ill. – McDonald’s reported a slight 0.2% increase in U.S. same-store sales for October 2013. Same-store sales rose 0.5% globally, which also includes a 0.8% increase in Europe and a 2.8% decline in Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Africa.

A new process for sustainable sourcing called Dockers Wellthread was unveiled by Levi Strauss & Co. which integrates product design, environmental practices and worker well-being.