Supply Chain & Merchandising

New York -- Almost as quickly as tiny northwest grocer Haggen became a regional player by acquiring 146 former Safeway and Albertsons stores the company is retrenching and has plans to close a large number of stores.

Los Angeles – American Apparel Inc., which warned shareholders of poor second quarter results last week, had more bad news this week. In addition to reporting growing net loss and shrinking net sales in a tough second quarter of fiscal 2015, American Apparel said it does not currently have enough cash to last the next 12 months and shareholders may lose some or all of their investment.

Cincinnati - The Kroger Co.is establishing two new supermarket divisions in Texas -- a Dallas division and a Houston division. Previously, both markets were served as part of Kroger's Southwest division.

Palo Alto, Calif. – In science fiction and horror films, the arrival of pods is rarely a good development. But omnichannel consumers will likely be pleased by the arrival of the first Curbside Pickup Pod at the Glendale Galleria mall (a GGP property) in Southern California.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart saw respectable U.S. sales growth in the second quarter, but it wasn't enough to overcome expense pressures and a weak dollar. These negative factors caused the company to turn in one of its worst quarterly profit performances in recent memory.

Atlanta – A continuing recovery in the U.S. housing market helped The Home Depot Inc. exceed Wall Street projections for net income and sales during the second quarter of fiscal 2015. Net income rose 9% to $2.23 billion, from $2.05 billion the prior-year period.

Specialty retailer Francesca's is losing its head merchant.

CMO Sei Jin Alt is resigning to spend more time with her family and pursue other interests, the company said. The company has initiated a search for a new Chief Merchandising Officer. To facilitate a smooth transition, Alt will remain in her current role until Nov. 20.

Quincy, Ill. – In the latest sign that beacons are becoming a mainstream in-store technology, at least one independent grocery chain is rolling them out. County Market, a division of Quincy, Illinois-based Niemann Foods, has implemented the Birdzi platform in all of its stores to provide personalized digital savings and increased customer engagement for its shoppers.