Sales & Marketing

Fueled in part by increased pharmacy sales, Fred’s reported Thursday that its August sales hit $165.6 million this year, up 12% over August 2014.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Sam's Club is taking on Costco in the auto buying program business by teaming up with one of the biggest names in car-shopping.

The all-new Sam's Club Auto Buying Program will now be powered by TrueCar, Sam's Club announced Thursday. Sams Club says members will have access to more than 10,000 TrueCar Certified Dealers nationwide, more than three times the nearest competitor in the warehouse club channel (i.e., Costco).

Sam's Club is taking on Costco in the auto buying program business by teaming up with one of the biggest names in car-shopping in an effort to boost its auto business.

The all-new Sam's Club Auto Buying Program will now be powered by TrueCar, Sam's Club announced Thursday. Sams Club says members will have access to more than 10,000 TrueCar Certified Dealers nationwide, more than three times the nearest competitor in the warehouse club channel (i.e., Costco).

New York -- Apple is getting ready to unveil its next generation of store design — and the industry is already buzzing over the details.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many available — and the few that are don’t seem very revolutionary. What little specifics known about the store are based on remarks made by Rick Millitello, who presented the new store plan on behalf of Apple to the Germantown Design Review Commission for review. (And yes, it was approved.)

Here are three details:

Internet retailers entering the physical space continues to be a growing trend, if the new Sole Society store in Santa Monica, Calif., is any indication.

The company opened the doors to its first brick-and-mortar retail store at Santa Monica Place this week. Launched in 2011, the Los Angeles-based online footwear brand kicked up buzz by delivering stylish $100-and-under shoes directly to consumers' doors. 

Lincolnshire, Ill. – Reports of the store’s demise are greatly exaggerated.

According to the annual Global Shopper Study from mobile solutions provider Zebra Technologies Corp., more than three-quarters (76%) of shoppers feel positive about shopping in stores and nearly one-half think that technology solutions are helping retailers enable and improve their shopping experience.

A rapidly expanding retailer led by a former top Walmart executive is supposed to produce strong same store sales growth, leverage expenses and increase profits. So why isn’t Five Below?

Joel Anderson’s tenure as CEO of value priced retailer Five Below (where everything cost less than $5) is off to an uneven start. The company is achieving its profitability targets, but doing so with productivity improvement in its selling space that is surprisingly weak given the newness of its store base.

Woonsocket, R.I. – When consumers have less access to cigarettes, they smoke fewer of them.

This is the basic conclusion of a new report from CVS Health showing that overall cigarette sales fell in 13 states where CVS has more than a 15% market share.