Sales & Marketing

New York -- Brooks Bros. Group and Reliance Brands Limited announced Tuesday the formation of a joint venture company in India.

Reliance Brands, a division of Reliance Industries Group, will use its local connections to bring the American brand to India.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Supervalu banner Cub Foods has partnered with a local produce grower to provide year-round local produce to locations throughout the Twin Cities.

Washington, D.C. -- The number of retailers that fell victim to organized retail crime groups increased in the past, according to the National Retail Federation’s Organized Retail Crime Survey.

Of the 125 retail companies surveyed for NRF’s eighth annual survey, a record-setting (96%) said their company has been the victim of organized retail crime in the past year, up from 94.5% last year. Another 87.7% said ORC activity in the United States has grown over the past three years.

Chicago -- Charming Charlie said Tuesday it has selected ShopperTrak to measure, analyze and deliver store-performance data for its nearly 200 locations.

ShopperTrak's Managed Service, which provides access to secure and anonymous foot-traffic data and actionable analyses, is currently being installed in all Charming Charlie stores and will continue through November 2012.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Tuesday posted May sales of nearly $6 billion, a decrease of 1.6% as compared with the same month in fiscal year 2011.

Minneapolis -- Christopher & Banks Corp. reported Tuesday a loss of $13.4 million, compared with a loss of $8.2 million in the year-ago period.

Net sales dropped to $93.6 million, from $110.4 million in the comparable period last year. Same-store sales decreased 15%.

“Our financial results reflect continued customer resistance to the residual merchandise assortment that consisted of styles that were too updated and priced too high while lacking in key categories,” said Joel Waller, president and CEO.

NEW YORK — Retail executives have more cash, are adding employees and enjoying stronger revenue, but they remain quite guarded longer term, not seeing a complete economic recovery until 2014 or later, according to the 2012 Retail Outlook Survey by audit, tax, and advisory firm KPMG LLP.

In the recent survey, 77% of retail executives indicate that their companies have significant cash on the balance sheet – up from 72% in KPMG's 2011 survey – and 56% say their companies' cash positions have increased from last year.

Orlando, Fla. — The Global Market Development Center has awarded Jerry Brown its 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award. The honor was given on June 3 during the “Dinner with the Chairman” at the 42nd Annual 2012 General Merchandise Conference in Orlando, Fla.