Supply Chain & Merchandising

Another set of weak quarterly results from Staples and another round of store closures could give the Federal Trade Commission more evidence to support Staples long-running effort to acquire Office Depot.

Kroger puts produce front and center at its new grocery store concept, Main & Vine, which also boasts a large bulk-bin area and an event center where cooking demonstrations take place. The store, in Gig Harbor, Washington, capitalizes on Kroger’s centralized buying and distribution power to keep prices affordable on produce and staples, according to the Columbus Dispatch. [Columbus Dispatch]

Amazon.com is continuing to expand its network of physical pickup points at colleges and universities across the U.S.

Amazon has recently announced agreements to open staffed pickup locations at the The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Akron.

Opening this summer, this 2,509-sq.-ft. space at the University of Texas will be located in Gregory Gymnasium. Additionally, Amazon Student and Prime members will receive free one-day pickup for orders placed by 10 p.m. on more than two million items.

Direct store delivery (DSD), which involves shipping products directly to stores from suppliers and bypassing the retailer’s warehouse or fulfillment center, is not a new idea.

However, several industry developments have made DSD a more attractive and feasible option in many instances. Here are three reasons for a retailer to consider launching a DSD program.

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A&G Realty Partners has been retained by The Sports Authority to manage the sale of retail store leases and assist in reducing the retailer’s occupancy costs following its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

A&G Realty is currently accepting bids on the leases, which range from 10,000 to 75,000 sq. ft. and are located in many of the major retail markets in the country including prestigious locations in California, Florida, Puerto Rico and Texas.  The auction will take place in mid-April.

Barnes & Noble produced a same-store sales increase in its third quarter which, although meager, is an impressive accomplishment given intense competition from Amazon. In announcing its results on Thursday, the company also revealed that it will open four new prototype stores in its current fiscal year. The first is expected to open sometime this summer.

Ross Dress for Less announced three new stores, part of the retailer’s 2016 expansion program, which calls for 70 new locations.

Ross will open a new store and relocate a store in Mobile, Alabama on March 5. The new 25,000-sq.-ft. West Mobile store is located in Westwood Plaza, one mile east of the Mobile Regional Airport. The Mobile location is a 25,000-sq-ft. store that relocated into the McGowin Park East Shopping Center at the southeast corner of Interstate 65 and Highway 90.