Sales & Marketing

Big Lots employees in Ohio will be going to work for their communities in 2015, but not in a retail store. 

The company's associates in the West Columbus area will be planting and maintaining a 17-bed community garden and hope to harvest more than 2,000 pounds of fresh produce in 2015 for the LSS Westside Food Pantry through the Mid-Ohio Foodbank.

Chicago – Despite significant changes in society and online commerce, the mall remains the primary shopping destination in America. Consumer shopping habits have changed, but only slightly, according to JLL’s Shopping Preferences Survey, which polled nearly 3,000 consumers nationwide.

New York -- Mother’s Day is turning into a goldmine for online retailers. Overall U.S. retail online sales for the week leading up to Mother's Day rose more than 15% compared to the same period last year, according to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark. Mobile traffic accounted for 46.3% all online traffic, up more than 21% compared to last year. Mobile sales saw strong growth, up more than 43%, reaching over 24.4% of all online sales.

Hhgregg President and CEO Dennis May played the “pleased with significant progress on transformation efforts” card after the company reported abysmal sales for its fourth quarter ended March 31.

The retailer said same store sales decreased 10%. Net sales decreased 9.8% to $485.6 million. Revenue dropped 10% to $485.6 million. The company had a loss of $25.2 million, or 91 cents a share, wider than its prior-year quarter loss of $7.2 million, or 25 cents a share.

Fast-growing retailer shoes.com is on track to generate $300 million in sales after reporting a blockbuster first quarter.

In its first quarterly financial report since consolidating three online businesses under one platform, the company reported an increase in gross revenue of 89% to a record $60 million and a 129% increase in revenue from repeat customers. Gross profit margins remained robust at 44%.

Gainesville, Fla. - Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE:RGC) will open a 10-screen reserved-seating luxury theater at Celebration Pointe, a 225-acre, mixed-use regional development located in Gainesville, Florida. Celebration Pointe partner Ralph Conti made the announcement.

Elmsford, N.Y. – Party City Holdco Inc. had something to celebrate in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, shrinking net loss to $8.52 million from $19.91 million the same period a year earlier. In addition, total revenues rose 7% to $462.1 million, from $432.99 million.

Brand same-store sales increased by 5.2% aided by the shift of the Easter selling season to the first quarter, which contributed 1.5% to the increase.

The parent company of Albertsons and Safeway has named a drugstore industry veteran as its new SVP of pharmacy, health and wellness.