Supply Chain & Merchandising

The CEO of Toys"R"Us says increases in same store sales and profit show that the company is on the right path toward strategic growth.

For the fourth quarter ended Jan. 30, the company earned $276 million, up from $265 million a year earlier. Revenue fell 2.6% to $4.9 billion. Same store sales increased 2.3%.

It’s not drones, but Amazon.com has found a new way to make quicker deliveries via air. According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon is leasing 20 Boeing 767 freighters as part of a deal with air cargo provider Air Transport Services. The agreement is intended to supplement Amazon’s existing delivery network. Amazon also purchased thousands of its own branded tractor-trailer trucks in December 2015. [Wall Street Journal]

Retailers looking to place blame for problems with inventory or fulfillment may want to find a target besides their IT systems.

According to a new survey of 200 retailers from inventory management technology provider Stitch Labs, two-thirds (63%) of inventory or fulfillment issues are caused by human error from manual process management. Delayed shipment from suppliers causes another 15% of inventory and fulfillment difficulties, with faulty technology only responsible only 12.5% of the time.

Party City on Thursday posted an increase in same-store sales and profit for the fourth quarter and said it is on track to expand its footprint this year.

But it also cautioned that sales may slow.

Party City reported a profit of $86.5 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, up from $79 million a year earlier. On a per-share basis, earnings declined to 72 cents from 83 cents.

Total revenue slipped 2.8% to $781.5 million. Same-store sales increased 2.8%, fueled by a strong Halloween season.

The company formerly known as Men’s Wearhouse plans to significantly reduce its physical presence this year by closing 250 stores, including more than 20% of the Jos. A. Bank stores acquired in 2014.

The major reduction is selling space by the company which changed its name to Tailored Brands earlier this year was announced in conjunction with the release of weak fourth quarter results that were in line with previously released results, which showed Jos. A. Bank stores had 32% decline in same-store sales.

The CEO of Toys “R” Us sounded an upbeat note on Thursday amid results that showed the chain cut its full-year net loss by more than half in fiscal 2015, and improved its adjusted earnings by 25%.

Chain Store Age recently spoke with Daphne Carmeli, CEO of Deliv, to get her perspective on what’s going on in the rapidly growing online delivery space.

What is driving growing consumer interest in online delivery?
We’ve got a bunch of players in the industry who are aggregating inventory in a simple, flexible and cost-effective way for last-mile fulfillment. Companies like Amazon and Google are resetting customer expectations of what’s possible.