Sales & Marketing

Quick. Name the winner of this past season’s American Idol.

Did the name Scotty McCreery immediately come to mind? The country crooner’s distinctive voice probably gives him a better chance of commercial success than some other recent winners, and Walmart is doing its part to jump start his career along with other Idol runners up.

NEW YORK — Barnes & Noble is promoting the Nook by inviting customers to come into its stores to compare their e-readers with company's own version. Beginning July 1, customers can purchase a Nook, starting at $139, and receive an instant Nook Book collection -- 30 free digital titles valued at $315. 

New York City -- Centro Properties Group announced the recent lease execution for two Ulta stores; an 11,000-sq.-ft. store will be joining Lakes Crossing, located in Muskegon, Mich., and a 10,895-sq.-ft. store will open at Florence Square, directly across from Florence Mall in Florence, Ky.

New York City-based Centro Properties Group owns both shopping centers.
 

San Francisco -- Gap announced Wednesday that it will open its first Gap store in Egypt this July, and its first Gap and Banana Republic stores in Morocco in October.

The move is part of the retailer’s global expansion strategy that calls for doubling its franchise stores to 400 by fiscal year 2014.

Gap started shipping to Egypt, Morocco and South Africa in 2010, but these stores are the first on the continent.

By Brad Tuckman, ksckreate.com

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Same-store sales at Rite Aid increased by 1.8% in June, the retail pharmacy chain said Thursday.

During the four-week period ended June 25, front-end sales were up 1.5% over the same period last year, while pharmacy sales increased by 1.9%, including a reduction of about 163 basis points due to new introductions of generic drugs.

Total drug store sales for the month increased 1% to $1.93 billion, compared with $1.91 billion in June 2010.

Strongsville, Ohio -- The IBM Retail User Group announced Thursday that drugstore retailer Duane Reade is the winner of its 2011 Retail Innovation Award.

The award, which was accepted by Richard Gilbert, director of store systems for Duane Reade, was presented at the User Group’s 34th annual conference in Orlando, Fla., in May.

The innovative solution provider Retail Tech jointly with RTC Group and Agilysys were also honored with the 2011 Retail Solution Innovation Award.

Family Dollar disappointed its investors this week with a third-quarter earning report in which gross margin pressures caused the company to report earnings per share of 91 cents that were four cents shy of analysts’ consensus estimates. The operator of 6,900 stores also said its 4.7% same-store sales increase was short of guidance of 5% to 7% and then used the occasion to lower fourth-quarter sales and earnings forecasts.