Supply Chain & Merchandising

Boston -- Online home furnishings and décor retailer Wayfair announced that Jeremy Delinsky has joined the company’s leadership team as chief technology officer.

Delinsky joins Wayfair with more than a decade of leadership experience, formerly serving as CTO and, most recently, chief product officer at athenahealth. Delinsky will report directly to Steve Conine, Wayfair’s co-founder and co-chairman.

Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. reported a loss of $3.5 million in the first quarter in the same week the retailer found itself in the middle of a national controversy over one of its best-selling T-shirts.

Charlotte, N.C. – Investments in higher margins and topline growth helped boost net income at Belk Inc. 13% to $21.8 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 from $19.3 million in the same period a year earlier. Net sales were $985 million, up 3% from $955.1 million.

Same-store sales rose 3.3%. The strongest merchandise categories were men’s and women’s apparel, especially activewear, across all areas. The company’s online sales increased 37%, positively affecting same-store sales by 2.1%.

Rapidly growing western wear retailer Boot Barn Holdings Inc. showed no signs of slowing down in the fourth quarter.

The Irvine, Calif.-based western apparel and footwear retailer posted a 16% increase in revenue to $103.3 million for the quarter that ended March 28. Same-store sales, which include e-commerce sales, increased 7.3%. The retailer opened 18 new locations for a total of 169 in 26 states. It was the 22nd consecutive quarter of same-store sales growth.

Seattle – Amazon.com reportedly plans to launch a line of private label grocery products. According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon will add items such as milk, cereal, baby food and household cleaners to its Elements private label brand.

Currently, Amazon Prime members can purchase Elements baby wipes, and the retailer previously sold Elements diapers, as well. Amazon has recently applied for trademark protection for about two dozen Elements-branded products including coffee, soup, pasta, water, vitamins, dog food and razors.

GameStop continued to reap rewards from its omnichannel strategy in the first quarter, as the retailer reported an impressive increase in same store sales.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- Dollar Tree on Friday announced it had reached an agreement to sell private equity firm Sycamore Partners a divestiture package of 330 Family Dollar Stores locations, with the deal contingent on the completion of Dollar Tree’s pending acquisition of Family Dollar.  Sycamore Partners intends to operate the 330 stores, which represent approximately $45.5 million of operating income for Family Dollar, under the Dollar Express banner.

New Albany, Ohio – Abercrombie & Fitch Co. posted a wider-than-expected loss and drop in revenue for its first quarter. But the teen apparel retailer, which is in the middle of a brand update to improve its controversial image, sounded a positive note, noting that its comparable sales continued to improve in May and that it expects sales to continue to improve in the second half.