Supply Chain & Merchandising

Stamford, Conn. -- Half of Americans (49%) plan to shop online earlier for gifts this holiday season, with the main reason being to ensure they receive their packages on time (63%), according to a survey by Pitney Bowes.

San Antonio, Texas -- The Woodmont Company has completed two, five-year leases with Altitude Trampoline Park for new locations in San Antonio and Spring, Texas.

Altitude Trampoline Park will occupy 27,428 sq. ft. of space at Heubner Oaks Shopping Center in San Antonio, Texas, a lifestyle center anchored by Regal Cinemas. The space is under construction with the grand opening anticipated this fall.

Neuhausen, Switzerland - Tyco Retail Solutions has integrated its traffic intelligence solution with RetailNext, a provider of Big Data solutions enabling retailers to monitor, analyze, and act upon shopper behavior within the store environment. This combination, which leverages Tyco's multi-sensor portfolio of traffic devices and RetailNext's in-store analytics platform, enables retailers to capture and interpret key metrics to optimize their store operations and drive sales.

Coppell, Texas – An increase in selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses driven by growing costs of advertising, new stores and store support helped Alco Stores Inc. swing to a net loss of $7 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2014 from net earnings of $800,000 a year earlier.

Net sales dropped 6% to $110.7 million, from $117.7 million. Same-store sales declined 8.9%.

As part of its holiday strategy, Toys"R"Us plans to hire 45,000 seasonal employees at its stores and distribution centers nationwide, more than doubling the company's workforce as it continues preparing for the highly contested shopping season ahead.

While it might still be September, Toys “R” Us isn’t wasting any time announcing what they clearly consider to be some newsworthy changes set to take effect this holiday season.

The Clorox Company has promoted Nick Vlahos, currently SVP and chief customer officer, to EVP and chief operating officer of household, lifestyle and core global functions, a position previously held by retiring EVP-COO George Roeth.

In this role, Vlahos will have responsibility for the charcoal, Glad, cat litter, food, Brita and Burt's Bees business operating units. He will also have responsibility for the company's marketing, sales, product supply and research and development functions.