Retail

By Pat Dermody, president, Retale

This is not a lecture about embracing digital. Chances are you have already heard that, read that, maybe even repeated it to yourself. If not, you had better hurry up.

At the recent Oracle Industry Connect Conference held in Boston, a number of speakers from prominent retailers including Kohl’s, Hot Topic, and C. Wonder extolled the virtues of “vanilla” implementations of enterprise systems. In this context, vanilla means implementing an enterprise platform with all or many of that vendor’s applications, minimizing customization or use of one-off “best of breed” solutions.

Minneapolis - Kevin Davidson has joined merchandising intelligence solutions provider Quantum Retail Technology Inc. as its CFO. Davidson brings more than 20 years of financial management and corporate development experience to Quantum and will report to CEO Steve Buege.

Davidson joins Quantum after serving as CEO of Critical Perfusion from 2012 to 2014. Previously he held C-level positions with BioDrain Medical Inc., OrthoRehab Inc., and was a managing director at Arthur Andersen LLP.

New York -- Online jewelry retailer BaubleBar on Monday opened 35 pop-up shops in select Nordstrom locations. The ‘Nordstrom Loves BaubleBar’ pop-up features new and exclusive items from brand, with the collection priced between $24 and $68.

North Bergen, N.J. -- The Vitamin Shoppe has been recognized as the top-rated vitamin store and top-rated vitamin store brand based on consumer satisfaction in ConsumerLab.com's 2014 survey of vitamin and supplement users. Each year, ConsumerLab.com, a provider of consumer information and independent evaluations of products that affect health and nutrition, surveys its subscribers about the vitamins and supplements they use.

Houston -- The Men's Wearhouse, Inc. has engaged the advisory firm, AlixPartners, to support its integration of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. Jos. A. Bank's store banner will remain in place and management will consist of executives from both companies.

It looks like one year of free credit monitoring has become the new industry standard for retailers looking to placate customers potentially affected by a data breach.

Sally Beauty is the latest retailer to offer free credit monitoring and identity theft protection following reports in early March that the company detected an unauthorized intrusion into its data network.

Pacoima, Calif. — A new Vallarta Supermarket will open in Oxnard, Calif., on April 2. It will be Oxnard’s second Vallarta. The 64,000-sq.-ft. location will house a bakery, full-service meat counter, fresh produce, and a hot food deli with in-store dining.

Founded in 1985, Vallarta Supermarkets is an independent chain with 43 locations throughout California.