Supply Chain & Merchandising

Deerfield Park, Ill. – Total sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2014 at Walgreens were $19.61 billion, up 5.2% from $18.65 billion in the same quarter in the prior year. Same-store sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2014 increased 4.5%, while front-end same-store sales for the quarter increased 2%. Prescriptions filled at same stores increased 2.4% in the second quarter and same-store pharmacy sales increased 6.1%.

New York -- Retail expansion in the United States has not come to an end, but its focus has shifted. That’s one of the findings contained in the 2014 ChainLinks Retail Advisors U.S. National Retail Investment Forecast Report.

Phoenix - PetSmart Inc. had a better fiscal year than fourth quarter 2013, with net income and sales rising during the year but falling during the quarter, compared to the same periods a year earlier. During the fiscal year, net income rose 8% to $419.5 million from $389.5 million, while net sales grew 3% to $6.91 billion from $6.71 billion and same-store sales increased 2.7%.

Revlon said fourth quarter sales increased 28%, thanks to the inclusion of sales at The Colomer Group, which it acquired in October.

Net sales for the quarter totaled $491 million, up 28% compared with $383.5 million in the year-ago period. On a foreign currency fluctuations or XFX basis, total net sales rose 31.2%, benefiting from the inclusion of $116.8 million of net sales related to the Professional segment beginning on The Colomer Group acquisition date. Excluding the acquisition, total net sales rose 0.7% on an XFX basis.

Cincinnati – Within the next 24 months, Kroger will build six new stores and expand three locations, along with opening multiple fuel centers and remodeling existing properties in the North Texas area. Kroger has already begun a store refresh program in the region that includes lower prices on thousands of popular food and household items, along with a renewed emphasis on shopping experience, fuel discounts, local products and community relations.

Washington, D.C. - The National Retail Federation has submitted an official statement for a hearing on data security being held by the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, reiterating the retail industry’s commitment to protecting Americans’ financial information.

Schenectady, N.Y. -- Price Choppers Supermarkets/Golub Corp. has named Ryan C. Hill as VP of construction and engineering. He will be responsible for planning the overall engineering, architectural and construction activities for the 132-store chain.

Hill comes to Price Chopper from Walgreens, where he served as senior director of construction.

Atlanta – Accellos is releasing AccellosOne Warehouse Management System (WMS) version 6.5, which is built on Accellos’ unifying technology platform, the AccellosOne Platform version 3.0. This cloud-ready WMS features an all-new configuration mechanism that leverages Microsoft’s Workflow Foundation, enabling partners and customers to analyze and modify business processes without writing code or using proprietary scripting languages.