Supply Chain & Merchandising

Jins Eyewear, one of Japan’s largest eyewear brands, opened its first-ever U.S. store, in San Francisco's Union Square neighborhood. The 4,900-sq.-ft. space features more than 1,200 different styles of Jins' exclusive frames.  

When Target pulled out of Canada, it was widely expected that Walmart would snap up some of Target's locations. But Walmart has decided to acquire only 13 stores, in a deal worth $136 million.

Walmart announced it has reached agreements to acquire one distribution center, 12 store leases and one owned property in Canada. The retailer says it expects to invest another $153 million to renovate the 13 stores and distribution center, bringing Walmart’s total investment to approximately $289 million.

London – British shoe retailer Soletrader sees delivery of an excellent customer experience across all retail channels as crucial to company growth while also providing competitive edge. Soletrader selected MNP Retail’s Order Management System to serve as a real time-inventory, order, and customer data hub.

This has enabled Soletrader to scale growth by way of digital stores and click and collect in-store tablet solutions.

Sprouts Farmers Market cited strong top-line sales growth as among the reasons for the retailer’s 4.8% comp increase for the first quarter.

Net sales for the first quarter ended March 29 were $857.5 million, a 19% increase compared to the same period in 2014. Net sales growth was driven by strong performance in new stores opened and a 4.8% increase in same store sales growth, the company said.

Brisbane, Calif. -- Bebe Stores Inc. reported a loss of $11.2 million in its third quarter, citing port delays and prolonged cold weather that also created pressure on sales.

Net sales for the quarter, ended April 30, increased 4.1% to $92.7 million, as compared to $89.0 million in the year-ago period. Same-store sales increased 1.2%.

Mississauga, Ontario - Walmart Canada has reached agreements to acquire one distribution center, 12 store leases and one owned property formerly held by Target Canada, for an aggregate of approximately $165 million Canadian ($136.3 million).
 

Washington, D.C. - Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is returning to normal levels as officials prepare to count votes on ratification of a new West Coast labor agreement. According to the monthly Global Port Tracker report from the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates, the ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled a record-high 1.73 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in March 2015.

The earlier Easter holiday put a damper on traffic at L Brands’ stores, which reported a 1% drop in same store sales for May.

But the retailer reported an overall 1% increase in sales to $724.6 million for the four weeks ended May 2, compared to net sales of $717.6 million for the four weeks ended May 3, 2014. The company reported net sales of $2.512 billion for the 13 weeks ended May 2, an increase of 5% compared to sales of $2.391 billion for the 13 weeks ended May 3, 2014. Same store sales for the 13 weeks ended May 2, increased 5%.