Sales & Marketing

Pittsburgh – GNC Holdings Inc. missed Wall Street expectations for profit and revenue in a generally disappointing second quarter of fiscal 2015. GNC reported net income of $67.4 million, a decrease of 4% from $69.9 million for second quarter 2014.

Cost of sales increases were a key factor in reduced net income. GNC reported consolidated revenue of $678.5 million, an increase of 0.5% as compared with $675.2 million. Revenue growth was limited by a 2.8% same-store sales drop in company-owned stores, including GNC.com.

Ahold USA has become the first major grocery retailer to join an initiative requiring Florida tomato suppliers to increase farmworker pay and protect workers from forced labor and sexual assault.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers announced Wednesday that Ahold USA is America's first major grocer to join the group's Fair Food Program. Ahold USA is the parent company of Stop & Shop, Giant Foods of Landover, Giant Foods of Carlisle, Martin's and online grocer Peapod.

Framingham, Mass. – The TJX Cos. Inc. apparently has a taste for vegemite.

TJX is purchasing Trade Secret, an off-price retailer that operates 35 stores in Australia, from Gazal Corp. Ltd. for $58.45 million. The acquisition of Trade Secret provides TJX an opportunistic entry into Australia, where it currently operates one of its 13 buying offices.

Overstock.com has come up with an exclusive back to school offer designed to appeal to teachers.

The retailer is offering free Club O loyalty program memberships to teachers of all grade levels. With every purchase on Overstock.com, Club O members receive free shipping and a minimum of 5% back in Club O Rewards Dollars to spend on the online shopping website.

Vancouver – Looking to up its appeal with men, Lululemon has added a new product (if only for the short term) to its mix: beer.

Milford, Conn. -- It’s getting harder and harder to keep track of all the activity in the mobile ordering and mobile payment space. The latest big announcement comes from Subway.

The fast-casual restaurant giant announced on Thursday new updates to its mobile app and website that include more mobile payment options, along with giving customers the ability to order on-the-go. Subway said it is adding PayPal as an option customers can use to pay for meals when they order remotely or pay in-store using the Subway app’s mobile payment feature.

Austin, Texas -- Whole Foods Market on Wednesday posted disappointing third quarter earnings and revenue, but it also gave out some more details about its new, value-driven store concept.

The company revealed that it will debut the format, 365 by Whole Foods Market, in the second half of next year, with the first store opening in the Silver Lake section of Los Angles. It plans to open up to five 365 stores (all in the second half of next year), with the expectation of doubling the number of openings in 2017. Stores will average about 30,000 sq. ft.

Whole Foods Market Inc. says it is taking the right steps to position itself for the long term and sees demand for more than 1,200 stores in the United States despite reporting a lackluster increase in same store sales for the third quarter.  

The health foods grocery retailer posted a same store sales increase of just 1.3% for third quarter ended July 5. Analysts had expected a 3% increase. The company did report  earnings of 43 cents per share on $3.63 billion in revenue. Total sales increased 8% to a record $3.6 billion.