Sales & Marketing

Cary, N.C. – The Pantry, Inc. reported a net loss of $5.1 million in its first quarter of fiscal 2014, up from a net loss of $3.1 million the first quarter of the prior fiscal year. Revenues fell 5% to $1.8 billion from $1.9 billion, although same-store sales rose 3.5%.

Fremont, Calif. -- The Men's Wearhouse has sent a letter to the independent directors of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. urging them to consider Men's Wearhouse's recent all-cash offer to acquire Jos. A. Bank for $57.50 per share, or about $1.6 billion. Jos. A. Bank initially rejected the offer, which expires March 28, 2014, on Jan. 20.

As part of its digital strategy, Hudson’s Bay Company has created HBC Digital and appointed Michael Burgess as the newly created group’s president. Burgess will report to the office of the chairman.

HBC Digital will drive the digital commerce and marketing strategy and execution across all channels, in partnership with each of the company’s business units: Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, Hudson’s Bay and HBC Outlets.

Philadelphia – Destination Maternity reported improved net income but lower net sales during the first quarter of fiscal 2014 as compared to the same period a year earlier. Net income totaled $4.25 million, up 11% from $3.84 million the same period a year earlier.

San Francisco -- The trend of companies adopting recurring revenue surged in 2013, with brand names using new billing and pricing models to grow sales and deepen customer loyalty. Recurring revenue technology provider Aria Systems projects this surge will continue in 2014 as more companies adopt recurring revenue models because of their flexibility and convenience for customers.

The opportunity to win a $100 gift card and appear in a television commercial is being used by Meijer to entice parents to upload photos of their kids to the retailer’s Facebook page.

As part of a contest called “Star with Sandy,” Meijer is giving customers until February 6 to submit photos of their kids or themselves when they were young riding a mechanical horse named “Sandy” that can be found at each of Meijer’s 204 stores in five Midwestern states.

Amsterdam, Netherlands -- Mobile payments accounted for 19.5% of all transactions worldwide in December 2013, a growth of 55% year-over-year, up from 12.6% the previous December. The third Adyen Mobile Payments Index, covering the period September to December 2013, also shows that mobile transaction volume in retail has risen by a third, up to 23%.

Kozy Shack, a 50-year-old pudding brand, is hiring a spokes-grandma to represent the brand nationally in online, broadcast and print advertisements.

The call for applications has been put out coast-to-coast: Pudding-loving grandmas can submit their applications at KozyShack.me/Grandma now through Jan. 31. More information can be found in job postings on Monster, Careerbuilder and LinkedIn.