Supply Chain & Merchandising

Issaquah, Wash. -- Costco Wholesale Corp. on Wednesday reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $697 million, exceeding Wall Street forecasts, amid strong back-to-school sales and higher membership fees. The retailer reported net income of $617 million in the year-ago period.

Total sales for the quarter, ended Aug. 31, rose 9.3% to $35.52 billion, also better than expected.

Same-store sales rose 7% (excluding fuel).

New York -- Target Corp. is enhancing the digital experience for its customers. The company is revamping its existing flagship app (with new versions for both iPhones and iPads) and its Cartwheel coupon app, and is also developing a new app for pharmacy, with rollouts scheduled for later this month. The retailer is also in the middle of updating its gift registry app.

Alburtsland, Denmark – Danish grocery retailer Coop Denmark A/S is implementing the Galleria Retail Technology Solutions Behavioral Cluster Planner. Coop Denmark will use Galleria’s behavioral clustering solution to understand how categories are being shopped.

Despite sluggish comparable store sales in the second quarter, Container Store chairman and CEO Kip Tindell is pleased with the company’s overall earnings performance, driven in part by increased average ticket growth as well as new store growth.

Montreal -- Raymark said that select members of the Luxury Jewelers Resource Group (LJRG) have selected Raymark's end-to-end suite of solutions for point-of-sale (including mobile), clienteling, merchandising, replenishment, open-to-buy planning, purchasing, repairs, reporting and analytics.

The Raymark banners include Fink’s Jewelers, Hamilton Jewelers, Hyde Park Jewelers, Lee Michaels Fine Jewelry, London Jewelers, Lux Bond & Green, Tapper’s Diamond & Fine Jewelry, Tivoli and Traditional Jewelers.

Bon-Ton plans to close its Bon-Ton store in the Clearview Mall in Butler, Pennsylvania, and its Elder-Beerman store in the Raleigh Mall in Beckley, West Virginia. The company will not renew these leases, which terminate Jan. 31, 2015.

The closings will affect approximately 38 and 39 store employees at the Clearview Mall and Raleigh Mall locations, respectively.

Springfield, N.J. – Store closing and pre-opening costs, as well as an unfavorable state tax ruling, reduced net income at Village Super Market Inc. 5% to $5.87 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, from $6.2 million in the same quarter the prior year. Two new store openings helped boost net sales 5.5% to $383.8 million, from $376.3 million.

Same-store sales rose 9%. For fiscal 2015, Village Super Market expects same-store sales to range from flat to slightly positive.

With average in-store purchases exceeding online sales by two and three times, popular online-only retailers, including Birchbox, Piperlime, Bonobos and Blank Label are continuing their expansion into physical storefronts, further accelerating the trend of online retail concepts expanding their omnichannel sales strategy to include physical locations.