Retail

New York -- The Walt Disney Co. on Thursday will open its first store under the Disney Baby banner, USA Today reported. The new store is located in Americana, an upscale shopping center in Glendale, Calif.

“This gives Disney the opportunity to reach out to moms when magical moments begin," Bob Chapek, president of Disney Consumer Products, told USA Today. "There's no more special occasion than the birth of a baby."

Little Rock, Ark. -- Dillard’s said Thursday that it has appointed Chris Johnson as its VP real estate. He succeeds James Cherry, Jr., who retired in December.

Johnson, a CPA, was previously VP of accounting for the department store retailer.
 

NEW YORK — Safeway will package $150 million in real healthcare savings into an overall wellness strategy to be implemented over the course of 2013, the grocer's chairman and CEO Steve Burd told analysts Thursday morning at the Goldman Sachs 19th Annual Global Retailing Conference.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreen Co. reported Thursday that same-store sales for the month of August slid 8.2%. The report came on the heels of Wednesday’s announcement that Tricare would not reinstate the drug retailer into the pharmacies approved to fill prescriptions.

WAYNE, N.J. — Halloween has arrived at Toys"R"Us. The retailer has launched Trick“R”Treat “boo”tiques in its stores nationwide and online. The designated shops will feature the usual assortment along with an all-new, affordable line of classic Halloween fashions for infants, toddlers and big kids called Boo!, available exclusively at Toys“R”Us stores nationwide.

THe Boo! line will include bumble bee, monster, pumpkin and other popular customes ranging in price from $14.99 to $29.99.

San Francisco -- The Gymboree Corp. reported Wednesday a loss of $14.1 million in the second quarter, compared with a loss of $6.9 million for the same period last year.
 
Sales rose 3.8% to $268.8 million, from $259.0 million last year, and same-store sales dipped 1%.

During fiscal 2012, the company reiterated its plans to open 115 new stores, including 90 locations for its value-priced Crazy 8 concept.
 

MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu is closing approximately 60 stores as the company moves forward with its turnaround plans. The company will shutter 38 stores in its retail food reporting segment and 22 Save-A-Lot locations. The majority of the stores are expected to close before Dec. 1, the end of the company’s fiscal 2013 third quarter.

Atlanta -- M-commerce provider CorFire said Thursday that it is providing virtual mobile payment capabilities to Dunkin' Donuts.

The technology supports Dunkin' Donuts' recently launched mobile app, which eliminates the need for physical cards and enables consumers to gift via SMS, email and social networks.
 
The Dunkin' App is technology agnostic and the solution, which works on most smartphones, delivers Dunkin' Donuts franchisees with payment and gifting solutions that drive customer loyalty while providing cost savings.