Sales & Marketing

Because the Easter holiday is in April this year rather than in March as it was last year, Gap already expected March to be a challenging month performance-wise.  

The retailer reported net sales of $1.5 billion for the five-week period ended April 5. Comparable sales for March were down 6% versus a 1 % decrease last year.

“While March performance has been challenging, we remain confident in the opportunities ahead,” said chairman and CEO Glenn Murphy. “We are pleased to reaffirm our full-year EPS guidance range.”

San Diego – PriceSmart Inc. reported increases in net earnings and revenues during the second quarter of fiscal 2014. Compared to the same period a year earlier, net earnings rose 14% to $28.3 million, from $24.9 million.

Revenues climbed 11% to $674.4 million from $607.4 million. The opening of two new warehouse club stores contributed to PriceSmart’s fiscal performance.

Lakewood, Colo. – Natural Grocers Inc. has opened two new stores in Las Cruces, N.M. and Gresham, Ore. The locations are respectively Natural Grocers’ fifth store in New Mexico and seventh store in Oregon.

Natural Grocers stores offer features including a credentialed nutritional health coach, local products, free recyclable boxes and demos, speakers and seminars.

Sandton, South Africa – Grant Pattison, CEO of Massmart Holdings Ltd., a South African retailer that operates as a subsidiary of Wal-Mart, is resigning. Pattison, 43, will be replaced by Massmart COO Guy Hayward, 48, on June 1, as part of what the company terms a smooth succession plan.

Pattison joined Massmart in 1998 and was appointed CEO in 2007. He was CEO when Massmart sold a majority stake to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Hayward has served with Massmart since 2000, receiving appointments as CFO in 2001 and COO in 2012.

The way people shop has completely changed over the past five years. A large part of this change in behavior has been driven by online access to information. Shoppers now have easy access to more product information than ever before. Yet as the modern buying experience has changed dramatically, the in-store experience at most retailers has remained frozen in time. In particular, most sales associates do not have tools at their disposal that might allow them to keep up with the information-empowered shoppers they now serve.
 

Time Warner Cable’s flagship in Manhattan offers shoppers a customer-centric, digitally savvy experience, complete with a large video wall, interactive product demos, a digital fireplace, and several large 21" tablets that combine product learning with internet browsing.

In the wake of acquiring Houston-based RediClinic, Rite Aid reported revenues of $6.6 billion for the fourth quarter ended March 1, resulting from a 2.2% lift primarily attributed to an increase in pharmacy same-store sales.

For the full year, Rite Aid reported $25.5 billion in revenues, up 0.5%.

Fort Worth, Texas – Snowstorms that affected as many as two-thirds of the selling days in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 in some key markets dampened financial performance at Pier 1 Imports Inc.

Compared to the same period the prior year, net income fell 31% to $42.6 million from $61.7 million. Total sales fell 6% to $515.8 million from $551.6 million and same-store sales dropped 4.6%.