Supply Chain & Merchandising

Omnichannel investments are driving solid top line growth at Pier 1 Imports but having the opposite effect on profits as the company transitions to an integrated digital business model.

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid Corp. on Thursday reported better-than-expected profit and sales for the second quarter. But the chain cut its full-year profit outlook, citing lower reimbursement rates and anticipated lower profitability from new generics and generic drugs that recently lost exclusivity.

Rite Aid’s second-quarter profit surged to $129.2 million, up from $32.8 million in the year-earlier period,

New York -- Seasonal hiring in the retail sector is expected to outpace 2013, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Retailers are projected to hire more than 800,000 seasonal workers for the upcoming holiday season, the highest number since 1999. In 2013, the retail industry hired 786,200 seasonal workers.

Cargill has been helping Unilever reduce its environmental impact, improve sustainability and grow its business through innovation. This work has resulted in Unilever selecting Cargill as its first-ever "Visionary" award winner during its fourth Partner to Win Supplier Summit.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) has appointed Sue Pifer as VP of compliance and Tiffin Shewmake as the director of the Center for Retail Compliance (CRC).

“The experience and skills that Sue and Tiffin possess make them uniquely suited for delivering exceptional value to our member companies on a broad range of compliance issues. We are excited to have them join the RILA team,” said RILA president Sandy Kennedy.

Lancaster, Pa. -- Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, the 1, 600-unit global franchise, has entered into a partnership with Meijer. In August, Auntie Anne’s opened its first Meijer franchise location, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
 
Auntie Anne’s will continue to build its partnership with the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer with two stores currently in the pipeline. The first is slated to also open in Fort Wayne later this year, with an additional location planned for Michigan in 2015.
 

New York -- The nation’s three largest off-price retailers (TJX, Ross Stores and Burlington) will see above-average growth, in the 6%-8% range, over the next five years, compared with 4% growth for the broader retail industry, according to a new report by Moody's Investors Service. The leaders in the space have thousands of vendor relationships and significant scale, so supply constraints aren't likely to hinder their growth, the report noted.

With word this week that Walmart will rebrand its small format Express stores under the Neighborhood Market banner, there will be plenty of interest in an upcoming presentation by the retailer’s vp of small formats.

Marc Lieberman, vp of small formats for Walmart U.S., is slated to speak at a Doing Business in Bentonville event on Thursday, October 9. at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers, Ark., from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.