Retail

Austin, Texas -- Whole Foods Market reported that profit for the third quarter rose to $151 million from $142 million last year, but revenue and same-store sales missed projections, sending the organic grocer’s shares downward.

Revenue rose to $3.38 billion from $3.06 billion, shy of the $3.39 billion expected by Wall Street. Same-store sales rose 3.9%, well short of the estimated 4.9% gain and marking the worst performance in at least 14 quarters.

New York -- Parents and their children in grades K-12 will spend a combined $543 on back-to-school items, and double that, at $1,223, on college spending. According to new survey data from Deloitte, parents alone expect to spend 13% less than in 2013.

Just how often does Amazon change prices throughout the day? And when do other leading retailers adjust their prices? Price intelligence and optimization leader 360pi is out with a new report that answers those questions and sheds lights on some surprising pricing tactics at top retailers.

The report, titled “When Should You Change Your Prices,” explores the phenomenon of pricing dynamism at leading retailers and assesses its effectiveness. What 360pi discovered is that the level of price dynamism can vary dramatically across retailers.

Same-store sales continue to decelerate at Whole Foods as the nation’s leading natural and organic grocer continues to face traffic and ticket pressures caused by upstart rivals and established competitors.

Cincinnati - The Kroger Co. Cincinnati/Dayton Division associates working at Kroger stores in metro and surrounding areas have ratified a new labor agreement with UFCW Local 75. It merges the formerly separate Cincinnati and Dayton contracts.

The contract covers 12,766 associates working in 76 stores in Cincinnati, and 4,945 associates working in 32 stores in Dayton.

Philadelphia – Net income at Destination Maternity Corp. fell 36% to $5.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 from $8.6 million a year earlier. Expenses related to the planned relocation of Destination Maternity’s corporate headquarters and distribution facilities, as well as costs related to its proposed and withdrawn merger with Mothercare plc, drove the reduction in net income.

Washington, D.C. - The National Retail Federation (NRF) has formed the Small Business Retail Council to organize, recruit and engage Main Street merchants and independent community retailers in grassroots advocacy activities. The Council will represent and be responsive to the needs, concerns and interests of local shops, and provide the association’s small business members a forum to discuss the most pressing public policy issues and priorities.

Ace Hardware will be implementing uStudio’s video platform to drive its sales training processes. The enterprise video platform-as-a-service provider is offering sales presentations and best practices techniques via the video to Ace’s more than 4,800 stores and 70,000 sales staff.

The goal of the video training program, according to uStudio, is for every salesperson to engage with customers more effectively and deliver on Ace Hardware's brand promise: "Being the most helpful hardware stores on the planet."