Supply Chain & Merchandising

Manchester, U.K. -- Office Depot has selected the Atlas Products network-based supplier collaboration platform for its European trading operations. The Atlas supplier enablement network, a subsidiary of HighJump Software, provides Office Depot with an electronic platform for collaboration and commerce with more than 4,000 suppliers of goods-for-resale products spanning eight countries and seven languages.   

Amazon once again takes the lead in disruptive news with reports it will open its first-ever physical store in New York City on West 34th Street, across from the Empire State Building and down the street from the iconic Macy’s flagship store. Even more than for its impressive location, the store is notable as the ultimate symbol of the continuing primacy of brick-and-mortar in the omnichannel environment.

 

Coppell, Texas -- Alco Stores Inc. on Sunday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with plans to liquidate or sell the business.    The 113-year-old retailer and its subsidiary, Alco Holdings Ltd Liability Co., filed voluntary petitions for relief in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division.  It listed assets of $221.7 million and debt of $161.6 million.  

Lowe’s may operate only eight stores in Mexico but that’s enough for the company to get a jump on executing an omnichannel strategy.

Regional discounter ALCO Stores succumbed to market pressures and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The operator of 198 stores in 23 states was founded in 1901 and sought to serve small underserved markets with a broad range of value priced merchandise.

Water conservation is big business for the nation’s largest home improvement retailer who earned accolades from the Environmental Protection Agency for selling nearly 13 million WaterSense devices.

The EPA named Home Depot a 2014 WaterSense Partner of the year for selling nearly 13 million WaterSense labeled products which helped customers save an estimated 42.5 billion gallons of water and more than $358 million in water related utility costs. The retailer said the water saved is enough to supply 291,000 U.S. homes for a full year.

New York -- Last week, SAP hosted its annual Retail Forum in the palatial confines of the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan. Within the elegant surroundings a lot of very practical and down-to-earth information about the latest retail IT trends was dispersed. Here are three tech trends retailers should pay extra close attention to.   Predictive Analytics