Supply Chain & Merchandising

Sears Holding Corp. is looking to raise more than $2.5 billion by selling its stores to a real estate investment trust.

The REIT, called Seritage Growth Properties, will purchase 254 Sears and Kmart stores for more than $2.5 billion and then lease back the Sears and Kmart stores to Sears Holdings. Seritage will partially fund the transaction through a public rights offering.

Seattle – Some observers thought it might be an April Fools prank, but Amazon.com has officially released its Amazon Dash mobile ordering device for AmazonFresh customers. Chain Store Age readers had no confusion as we first reported the pilot of Dash in April 2014, but here is a brief primer of how Dash works.

PetSmart Inc. is looking to drive growth with six new executive appointments focused in the areas of customer experience, merchandise planning, strategy, initiatives, sourcing and real estate.

The additions to the senior leadership team reflect the first major hires by PetSmart’s newly installed president and CEO, Michael Massey.

Cincinnati -- Macy’s announced that Bloomingdale’s plans to open a 150,000-sq.-ft., three-level location in fall 2018 in an all-new shopping, dining and entertainment center being developed in Norwalk, Connecticut, by General Growth Properties.

“This spectacular new shopping center will be a distinctive and upscale destination for Fairfield County and surrounding areas, prominently positioned at I-95 and Highway 7,” said Tony Spring, chairman and CEO of Bloomingdale’s.

A new deal between IBM and The Weather Company promises to give retailers and suppliers access to a new range of insights to drive all manner of demand forecasting, merchandising and replenishment decision-making.

Eden Prairie, Minn. – Supervalu Inc. wants customers to be able to stack some coin. The grocery retailer has added Cummins Allison’s Money Machine 2 self-service coin counters across multiple store locations in Maryland, Missouri, Illinois and Virginia.

Supervalu selected the new Money Machine 2 coin counters because of their flexibility. Additionally, Cummins Allison provided Supervalu with opportunities to increase their coin redemption revenue without increasing user fees.

Phoenix – PetSmart Inc. has named six new executives to its senior leadership team.  The additions reflect the first major hires by PetSmart’s newly installed president and CEO, Michael Massey.

Joining the Company are: Eran Cohen, executive VP of customer experience; Ron Cooperman, executive VP of strategy, Initiatives and real estate; Ted Passig, executive VP of buying and sourcing; Phil Vostrejs, executive VP of merchandise planning allocation, distribution and supply chain; and Brian Amkraut, senior VP of real estate.

Atlanta -- Deployment of in-store Wi-Fi had the most significant positive impact on retail sales and loyalty of any technology initiative, according to a survey by IHL Group. Almost half of the participating retailers claimed increased customer loyalty due to deploying in-store employee Wi-Fi, with an associated 3.4% increase in sales. One-third of retailers (28%) reported increased customer loyalty due to deploying in-store customer Wi-Fi, with an associated 2% increase in sales.