Supply Chain & Merchandising

The Houston suburb of Richmond is home to Sam’s Club’s 80th location in Texas following the opening of a new unit there on Thursday, Nov. 6.

Sam’s Club now operates 20 clubs in the sprawling Houston market and the 80 clubs the retailer operates in Texas account for more than 12% of the 643 Sam’s Clubs in operation nationwide as of September 30.

New York -- British fast-fashion retailer Topshop, a unit of Arcadia Group, opened a flagship on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, close to Rockefeller Center.  

ALDI is accelerating its growth and dramatically increasing its presence in the Northeast with the acquisition of 66 Bottom Dollar Food stores from Delhaize Group.

Delhaize said it reached an agreement to sell its 66 Bottom Dollar stores in the greater Philadelphia and Pittsburgh markets for $15 million and associated lease liabilities. Delhaize said it would take an asset impairment charge of $180 million in conjunction with the sale.

Charlotte, N.C. --Westwood Financial Corp. announced that Publix Super Markets has now opened as the new anchor tenant at Steele Creek Crossing in Charlotte, N.C. This lease marks one of seven Bi-Lo locations Publix has taken over in the Charlotte area.

Bay Shore, N.Y. -- Consumers are growing disenchanted by the physical shopping experience, with 63% admitting they prefer to shop online, according to a study by Tensator Group.    Eighty-percent of shoppers have used a store to view a product before purchasing online, the report found. And 68% admitted to using their phone to check the price of an item online before deciding whether to purchase in-store.  

Thorofare, N.J. -- Shrink—including shoplifting, employee or supplier fraud and administrative errors—cost the global retail industry more than $128 billion last year, with $42 billion lost in the United States alone, according to the latest Global Retail Theft Barometer study. This represents 1.29% of retail sales, on average.   

New York-- Ann Inc. is forecasting declining sales for the fiscal third and fourth quarter and full year 2014. The company is also launching a comprehensive, end-to-end assessment of its supply  chain to identify opportunities to enhance profitability, with a focus on speed, flexibility, improving product sell-through and reducing the cost of goods sold.  

In an effort to handle the expected double-digit package volume growth this holiday season, the Postal Service on Thursday announced that it would be delivering packages seven days a week in major cities and high-volume areas beginning Nov. 17 through Christmas Day.