Retail

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has expanded its offering of baked goods and desserts. The retailer has introduced more than 60 new products including new varieties of bagels, scones, cookies, breads, pies, cupcakes, and pastries. The new products include several seasonal flavored, gluten free and organic options and like all fresh&easy brand products, contain no artificial colors or flavors, high-fructose corn syrup, or added trans fats, according to the company.

San Francisco -- As consumers await the debut of Apple’s iPhone 5, two retailer applications are now ranked among the Top 20 “bestsellers” free apps as ranked by Apple.

Target ranks No. 8 overall and Walgreens No. 10 as of Thursday.

Target version 5.5.1 now allows users to receive coupons directly in the app and scan them in the store and is compatible with Apple's latest iPhone operating system iOS 6. And now search results on the Target app can be filtered by price, in-store or online availability and color.

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid Corp. reported Thursday a loss of $41.4 million in the second quarter, significantly narrowed from a $94.7 million loss in the year-ago period.

Revenue slipped to $6.23 billion from $6.27 billion last year, missing Wall Street’s projected $6.25 billion in sales. Same-store sales were essentially flat for the quarter.

Talk about an uphill battle. Walmart is trying to educate shoppers about eating healthy on a limited budget and the importance of understanding unit prices when evaluating purchase decisions.

Foothills Ranch, Calif. -- The Wet Seal Inc. said Thursday it has dropped its temporary shareholder rights plan, citing feedback from stakeholders, and has proposed to expand its board to include two nominees of activist investor Clinton Group.

In July, Clinton Group, which owns approximately 7% of Wet Seal, called for a sale of the retailer, expressing dissatisfaction with its performance, and made a play for four seats on the board. In response, the retailer adopted a temporary shareholder rights plan with a 10% trigger.

BALTIMORE — Sprout Foods is adding new toddler puree snacks to its portfolio and also will introduce more convenient product packaging, the company announced at the Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore.

New York -- Enterprise business solution-provider Jesta I.S. Inc. said Thursday that Sterling Shoes, a division of Toronto-based Town Shoes, has gone live with its Vision Store and Vision Merchandising software.
 
Town Shoes completed the acquisition of 69 Sterling Shoes stores in April 2012 and immediately launched the selection process for POS and merchandising software solutions that could be implemented by Labor Day weekend.

MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu has named Kathy Persian as SVP and chief information officer. Persian joined the company in February 2010 in the role of group VP retail and merchandising systems, and later moved to group VP corporate planning, analysis and business process. Persian was named to the CIO post following the decision by Wayne Shurts to accept a position with another company. Shurts joined Supervalu in April 2010.