Retail

NEW YORK— Winn-Dixie Stores has filed suit against Dolgencorp, the parent company of Dollar General. The grocer confirmed that the suit was filed because Dolgencorp “knowingly violates legal, noncompete provisions of Winn-Dixie leases in shopping centers in which both businesses operate,” Winn-Dixie told the Jacksonville Business Journal in an email.

SAN MATEO, Calif. — DemandTec announced that Dollar General will use DemandTec's markdown optimization, everyday price optimization, and everyday price management software services.  According to DemandTec, these three services are designed to enable retailers to optimize and strategically manage pricing for the entire store, including new items, regular retails, promoted items, and clearance items.  

PLANO, Texas — Last week, RetailingToday.com reported that former Apple executive Ron Johnson would succeed Mike Ullman as CEO of JCPenney. Today, JCPenney announced that Ullman, who was originally slated to remain on the company's board of directors indefinitely, will now be leaving the company on Feb. 1, 2012.

It was the biggest story in the retail world last week when JCPenney announced it had hired Ron Johnson as its new CEO with the incoming executive vowing to transform the way America shops by reinventing the department store. Such statements normally elicit a yawn because they are so common, but Johnson is the former SVP retail at Apple and spent the past 11 years overseeing the development and growth of the company’s wildly successful and widely heralded retail operation.

Allegations of illegality and intimidation are par for the course whenever union organizers lose an election, so it should have come as no surprise when workers at a Target in Valley Stream, N.Y. voted against unionization.

The National Labor Relation Board announced this past weekend that 137 workers voted against joining the United Food and Commercial Workers union while 85 workers supported the union. Had the drive been successful it would have been the first time workers at any of Target’s store were represented by a collective bargaining agreement.

NEW YORK — Macy’s announced that it will offer an exclusive collection of area rugs that have been certified by GoodWeave, an international nonprofit organization that works to ensure rugs made by hand in Nepal and India are free of child labor. The GoodWeave collection, including 20 styles available in various sizes, will be carried in select Macy’s stores in New York and New Jersey.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — eBay reported that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of GSI Commerce, a leading provider of e-commerce and interactive marketing services. The stockholders of GSI approved the adoption of the merger agreement with eBay at the special meeting of stockholders held on June 17 and the merger became effective later that day.

Target’s first stores in Canada are not scheduled to open until 2013, but this week the company can get a glimpse of what it’s up against when Walmart Canada president and CEO David Cheesewright is scheduled to speak at the Jefferies 2011 Global Consumer Conference.