Sales & Marketing

The maker of DNA Energy Drink is eating its words after incorrectly announcing a distribution agreement between DNA Brands and Trenton Coca-Cola on Monday.

DNA’s president and CEO, Eric Fowler, said Wednesday that the announcement from earlier this week was incorrect and that there was no agreement for distribution between the bottling company and DNA. The announcement also quoted Chuck Jones, citing him as president of the bottling company even though he is not.

Montano Lucino, Italy — Italian hypermarket retailer Bennet has completed the rollout of electronic article surveillance (EAS) loss prevention solutions in its stores in Italy. The solution involves the installation of 1,000 P20 EAS antennas from Checkpoint’s Evolve solutions, as well as radio frequency (RF) tags, Alpha high-theft solutions and point-of-sale deactivators, in addition to the rollout of an RF source-tagging program aimed at increasing on-shelf availability, improving open merchandising while reducing labor costs and inventory shrink.

Risk averse retailers were quick to shun Paula Deen after she displayed racial insensitivities last year, but now she is back with a new approach that appeals directly to fans of her brand.

Paula Deen Ventures plans to create an interactive digital experience called the Paula Deen Network that allows viewers to engage and access Deen and her Southern home cooking on a variety of digital platforms. The network will be a paid subscription model and is scheduled to launch this September.

Midvale, Utah — Increased selling, general and administrative expenses were a key factor in Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings Inc. swinging to a net loss of $3.37 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2014, compared to net profit of $4.46 million in the same period a year earlier. The retailer plans to open eight new stores during the fiscal year, including four in the second quarter.

Net sales dropped 3% to $132.4 million from $136.5 million. Same store sales decreased by 18.1%, primarily as a result of the decline in demand for firearms and ammunition.

San Mateo, Calif. – Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is debuting its U.S. e-commerce site, 11Main.com, with a beta rollout on Wednesday, June 11. The home page of the invite-only website says “We’re opening soon — our shop owners are getting unpacked and unsettled,” and has an online invite request option. (Alibaba has filed for an initial public offering in the United States, in May.)

Lowe's continues making advances in retail innovation with its new Innovation Labs and the first concept to come out of the lab — the Lowe's Holoroom.

Lowe's created the lab to build new technology to solve common consumer frustrations while working alongside startups, universities, specialized professionals and other companies.

Atlanta — Online shoppers want retailers to make it easier to purchase their goods and services, and also want websites and stores to work better together. For now, according to a new survey of 5,800 consumers from UPS and comScore Inc., they also prefer to evaluate and purchase products from their desktops rather than their mobile devices, and when it comes to shipping and returns, "free" is a driving factor to complete the sale.
 

Consumer spending in May increased 4.2%, according to the latest SpendTrend report from First Data Corporation, with the retail sector enjoying renewed vigor.

First Data’s SpendTrend tracks same-store point-of-sale data by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks from nearly four million merchant locations serviced by First Data. The spending increase of 4.2%, compared to 4.1% in April.