Supply Chain & Merchandising

King of Prussia, Pa. – Online retailers are prioritizing immediate investments in customer-facing tactics such as price, marketing and customer service over strategic infrastructure for the 2014 holiday season. According to the 2014 Holiday Retail Audit, a U.S. survey of more than 1,000 ecommerce and marketing professionals from retailers with revenues of $5 million to $250 million conducted by EBay Enterprise, retailers identified a renewed focus in marketing efforts.

Mahwah, N.J. -- Ascena Retail Group Inc. on Monday reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $15.7 million, compared with $29.8 million in the year-ago period. Its results missed Wall Street expectations.

Revenues for the quarter were $1.18 billion, compared with $1.20 billion in the prior year. The company attributed the decrease challenging tween market conditions at Justice and inventory-related issues at Lane Bryant. Results were partially offset by positive comp growth at Maurices and Catherines and new store growth at Maurices.

The nation’s largest automotive retailer has entered some rarified retailing air after reporting its 33rd consecutive quarter of double digit profit growth during the fourth quarter ended August 30.

The operator of 5,391 stores in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil said its fourth quarter profit increased 7.4% to $373.7 million while earnings per share increased 15.6% to $11.28, compared to prior year profits of $371.2 million, or $9.76 a share.

Fort Worth, Texas – Beleaguered consumer electronics chain RadioShack Corp. says it is in talks with an unidentified “major vendor” about modifying a commercial agreement in a way that could benefit a financial restructuring. RadioShack announced the ongoing discussions in a Sept. 22 regulatory filing.

Dublin, Calif. – DD’s Discounts, a division of Ross Stores Inc., will open a new store in Orlando on Sept. 27. The store is located in the Century Plaza. 

Including this new location, DD’s Discounts will operate approximately 150 locations in 13 states and is on schedule to complete its expansion plan to open approximately 20 locations in 2014. Together, Ross Dress for Less and DD’s Discounts currently operate more than 1,300 off-price apparel and home fashion stores in 33 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.

Midvale, Utah - Sportsman's Warehouse is expanding with new locations in Sheridan, Colorado and Flagstaff, Arizona. The Sheridan store will be the fifth Sportsman's Warehouse location in the state of Colorado and the Flagstaff location will be the fourth location in the state of Arizona.

Both of these stores are planned to open in the summer 2015. These locations are part of the eight new stores that Sportsman's Warehouse plans to open in 2015.

Memphis, Tenn. -- AutoZone on Monday reported better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $373.7 million from $347.8 million a year earlier. The chain also reported a milestone as its net income for the full year rose 7.7% to $1.1 billion.


The auto parts retailer’s revenue in the fourth quarter rose 3.4% to $3.05 billion in the period, up falling short of Street forecasts of $3.06 billion. Same-store sales rose 2.1%.

New York – Tiffany &Co. plans to offer two series of senior notes, one due in 2024 and one due in 20144, for a total of $500 million. The initial purchasers of the notes are expected to be Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., Goldman, Sachs & Co., BNY Mellon Capital Markets LLC, J.P. Morgan and Mizuho Securities.