Supply Chain & Merchandising

Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. reported second-quarter net income of $37.2 million, which topped Wall Street expectations.    The natural and organic food retailer posted revenue of $1.03 billion in the period, narrowly missing Street forecasts of $1.04 billion, but topping last year’s sales by 14%.   Same-store sales grew 4.1% in the period.

Three current franchisee groups will introduce a total of 17 new Dunkin’ Donuts shops to the Atlanta area following deals signed with Dunkin’ Brands. Four of the units will be co-branded with Baskin-Robbins.  

HSN’s CFO and COO is taking a new job, but she won’t have to travel far.   Judy Schmeling has assumed the helm of the Cornerstone Brands division of HSN, which consists of home and apparel banners such as Frontgate, Garnet Hill, Grandin Road and TravelSmith.    Schmeling, who will continue to report to HSN CEO Mindy Grossman, will maintain her COO position at HSN, and she will remain CFO until a successor is appointed.  

Ikea has tabbed a 123-acre parcel 17 miles north of downtown Denver as the potential site of its second location in the metro. The Swedish furniture retailer made its debut in the area with a store in Centennial in 2011.   Ikea set no time frame for the opening of the second store, though the city of Denver has begun the process of incorporating a new Ikea into the master-planned retail center destined for the site in Broomfield at the intersection of Interstate 25 and State Highway 7.  

Costco's comparable sales for the month of July declined 2%, with a 3% decrease in U.S. a 3% rise in Canada and other decreases internationally.  

The Cato Corp. reported sales of $61.2 million for the four weeks ended July 30, down 8% from the same period a year ago.     Same-store sales for the month were down 10% from the prior year.   On a quarterly basis, Cato sales for the second quarter fell 5% to $236.7 million, compared to $249.2 million a year ago. Second quarter same-store sales were down 6% from the prior year.  

Wal-Mart Stores is in talks to buy start-up Jet.com, an online retailer that has styled itself as a challenger to Amazon, the Wall Street Journal reported.   The acquisition would give a big boost to Wal-Mart’s digital efforts, as well as its efforts to compete with Amazon. At the company’s annual shareholders meetings in June, Wal-Mart CEO Doug said the discounter planned to become more aggressive in growing its online business.  

Expressing a desire to deliver more professional services and back-end support to its wholesale customers, Supervalu announced that it would install Oracle Cloud as its new technology platform.   "The Oracle Cloud provides us with a more robust infrastructure and a comprehensive solution that we believe will help us drive increased efficiencies, speed decision-making, and enhance the overall customer experience,” said executive VP and CIO Randy Burdick.