Supply Chain & Merchandising

BJ’s Wholesale Club has announced the recipients of its Team Member Awards at the its annual Team Member Conference held this month in Orlando, Fla. The awards are presented to team members who have shown exemplary achievement throughout the past year.

Ottawa, Canada -- 360pi, a leading provider of retail price and product intelligence, announced a collaborative effort with SAS, a leader in business analytics software and services. The goal is to allow retailers who combine 360pi's competitive price intelligence with SAS' revenue optimization engine to gain full real-time visibility into competitive pricing to make more profitable pricing decisions.

Washington, D.C. -- Import volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 3.5% in May as negotiators prepare to begin talks on a new contract for West Coast dockworkers, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

North Bergen, N.J. -- Vitamin Shoppe reported flat net income for the first quarter, at $20.5 million. Sales during the period grew 10.3% to $307.8 million, boosted by e-commerce strength, and same-store sales increased 3.6%.

“We are continuing to make investments in our omni-channel initiative to further enhance our customers overall experience," said Tony Truesdale, CEO.

The company opened nine stores in the quarter, including one in Canada. It said it plans to open 60 new stores in 2014.

The timing of the Easter holiday, which was observed in last year’s first quarter but this year’s second, affected Weis Market’s first quarter results for the period ended March 29.

The company's sales for the quarter increased 0.6% to $687.1 million while its comparable store sales for the quarter decreased 1.3% compared to the same period a year ago.

Dublin, Calif. -- Ross Stores’ board approved a succession plan that elevates Barbara Rentler from president and chief merchant to CEO, effective June 1, replacing Michael Balmuth who will transition to executive chairman.

Current president and COO Michael O’Sullivan will continue in his present position.

Other promotions effective June 1 include: Lisa Panattoni to president, merchandising; and Bernard Brautigan to group executive VP merchandising.

Hudson’s Bay Company has named Paul V. Beesley as CFO, effective June 2014.

Toronto -- Opterus Inc., a leading provider of cost-effective, web-based store communications and task management solutions, announced that luxury retailer Cole Haan has selected Opterus’ Store Ops-Center as its communications and task management solution.