Supply Chain & Merchandising

Indianapolis -- Samuel M. Sato, formerly president, Finish Line brand, has been named as president, The Finish Line Inc. The board of directors also elected him to the board, filling the Class II director position previously held by Bill Kirkendall.  

Schaumburg, Ill. -- Motorola Solutions Inc. has unveiled the Symbol TC70 touch computer, an enterprise-class mobile computer running the Android KitKat operating system. Designed to boost efficiency and customer service in the retail, wholesale and manufacturing industries, the TC70 is supported by more than 50 certified applications including price and inventory checks, line busting, assisted selling, workforce management and inventory management.  

Plano, Texas -- Pretax restructuring charges related to corporate reorganization and store closures, as well as pretax impairment charges, helped reduce net earnings at Rent-A-Center Inc. 7% to $25.3 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 from $27.2 million in the third quarter of the prior year. Revenues grew 2% to $769.5 million from $754.8 million, and same-store sales rose 1.9%.

 

CVS Health has confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that it is working to establish a tobacco-free pharmacy network and is looking for tobacco-free pharmacies to participate in the new offering.

As widely reported, CVS Health’s pharmacy locations are now officially tobacco-free as the company forges ahead on its mission to help shape the future of health care.

Los Angeles --Great American Group has been selected as a stalking horse bidder in the potential liquidation of Alco Stores, which operates 198 general merchandise discount stores in 23 states. Great American is a leading provider of asset disposition and auction solutions, advisory and valuation services, capital investment, and real estate advisory services.

Niwot, Colo. -- Crocs Inc. is enacting several key management changes, including the appointment of Bob Munroe to general manager of Crocs Americas region; Greg Sullivan to the new role of senior VP of global business transformation; Scott Yuan to general manager of Greater China; and Michelle Poole to senior VP of global product creation and merchandising.  

Epicor Software Corp. has agreed to acquire privately held QuantiSense, Inc., a provider of cloud and on-premises packaged analytic solutions for the retail industry. The acquisition of QuantiSense, expected to close by Oct. 31, 2014, will add QuantiSense business intelligence and advanced retail analytics offerings to the Epicor Retail solutions portfolio, helping empower users to leverage enterprise-wide data as actionable insights to optimize all aspects of their operations, from the supply chain through to multi-channel points of purchase.

Hicksville, N.Y. --Sleepy's announced that with the grand opening of its new location in Joliet, Ill., the privately-owned mattress retailer's store count reached a landmark 1,000 stores. "It is with great pride that we announce our thousandth-store milestone," said Sleepy's president, David Acker. "Sleepy's has been around since 1957, and we are very proud of this latest accomplishment. It won't stop here."