Supply Chain & Merchandising

Cameron Geiger, senior VP, Walmart technology, has been appointed to the GS1 U.S. board of governors.

He will help guide the GS1 U.S. strategy for driving adoption and usage of GS1 standards within the retail industry. GS1 standards are used to uniquely identify products, services and locations globally.

After months of anticipation, the 365 by Whole Foods Market discount store format has made its debut in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles.
 

Amazon.com Inc. is supporting continued growth in California with fulfillment centers launching in the cities of Tracy and Eastvale.

Specialty apparel retailer Express Inc. did not reach Wall Street expectations with declining profit and flat sales in a generally sluggish first quarter of fiscal 2016.
 
Net income slipped 1% to $12.9 million from $13.1 million in the same quarter the previous fiscal year. Outlet- and IT-related expense growth helped drive down profit.

Net sales stayed essentially flat at $502.9 million, compared to $502.4 million a year earlier. Same-store sales fell 3%, including a 1% dip in e-commerce sales.
 

The store is making a comeback. Even online pure plays are laying down bricks and mortar, setting up “shop-in-shop” stores and large flagships to keep pace in the multichannel world.
 

Increases in cost of sales, operating expenses and depreciation resulted in net income dropping at Kirkland’s Inc. during a generally disappointing first quarter of fiscal 2016.
 
The specialty home décor chain’s net income totaled $916 million, down 64% from $2.53 billion in the first quarter of the previous fiscal year. Net sales rose 10% to $129.91 million from $118.31 million, below expectations. Same-store sales edged up 0.5%.
 

Asda, the U.K. subsidiary of Walmart, wants customers to have unencumbered access to desired products.
 
On the front end, this has meant creating a click and collect service called toyou. On the back end, Asda enables toyou with a seamless fulfillment infrastructure based on Manhattan Associates technology.
 

Best Buy Co. Inc. surpassed Wall Street expectations with rising profits and declining revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2017, and CFO/CAO Sharon McCollam announced she will retire June 14.