Supply Chain & Merchandising

Record Mother's Day sales couldn't lift profit at Stage Stores Inc., which narrowed its loss but reported disappointing same store sales in the first quarter.

Pittsburgh – Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. met Wall Street expectations with net income of $63.34 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, a 9% decrease from $69.99 million the same period a year earlier. The retailer also met the Street with consolidated net sales of $1.56 billion, a 9% increase from $1.34 billion.

However, same-store sales growth of 1% fell short of Wall Street predictions. Rising selling, general and administrative (SG&A) and pre-opening expenses dug into Dick’s profit.

Lower gas prices led to improved traffic and a 1.1% same store sales increase at Walmart’s U.S. stores division, but total company performance suffered under the weight of a $3.3 billion foreign exchange impact and expense pressures which caused profits to decline 7%.

Englewood, Colo. – Sports Authority Inc. is partnering with online protection plan provider Simplr to let customers protect new purchases. The product enables customers who purchase a protection plan to repair or replace a covered piece of sports equipment – such as treadmills, bikes, or golf clubs.  

There are no deductibles, repair costs, or hidden fees. Shoppers file a claim online. The three step claims process is straightforward and can be completed online any time, day or night:

1. Register the product online,

Deerfield, Ill. – Walgreens provides localized offerings in its new and remodeled store formats. To support this effort, Walgreens has implemented JDA Software’s Category Management solution.

Walgreens can now analyze the existing performance of a planogram, using the data to answer key questions about why a category is behaving in a certain way. Planogram data is shared into all parts of the organization, including but not limited to the e-commerce, pricing, markdown, and operations teams.

Retailers are poised to benefit from a new deal between Accenture and Javelin Group, a UK-based retail strategy consulting and digital transformation services provider.

The acquisition will expand the capabilities of Accenture Strategy to help the world’s leading retailers and consumer brands accelerate their digital transformation. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, and completion of the acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions.

Atlanta - Honey Baked Ham is consolidating three regionalized operating divisions, currently based in Georgia, Michigan and Ohio, and has also named two new top executives. The combined organization, The Honey Baked Ham Company LLC, will be headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia and will serve customers online and at more than 400 stores in 40 states across the U.S.

Ascena Retail Group may be looking to attract younger, more career-oriented shoppers with its $2.15 buyout of rival Ann Inc.