Supply Chain & Merchandising

Burlington, Mass. -- Demandware announced that The Finish Line has launched new e-commerce and mobile commerce sites on the Demandware Commerce platform. The initiative is part of the retailer’s strategic move to a cloud-based digital commerce solution to power its omnichannel strategy.  The company will also use Demandware to power Run.com, a specialty brand that focuses on all things running.
 

The footwear category is one fire judging from the recent performance of two leading retailers.

Brown Shoe Co., operator of 1,300 Famous Footwear and Naturalizer stores, said its same store sales for the quarter ended October 27 increased 6.8% and adjusted earnings increased 18.3% to $25.9 million or 51 cents a share.

Rival DSW, operator of 364 stores, said its same stores sales for the third quarter ended October 27 increased 6.1% and adjusted net income increased 17% to $46.6 million, or $1.02 per share,.

Minneapolis -- Best Buy Co. woes continue, as the electronics retailer reported Tuesday a loss of $10 million for the quarter ended Nov. 3, compared with net income of $156 million in the year-ago period. Results were hurt by restructuring charges and slowed sales.

Sales slid 4% to $10.75 billion, but met Wall Street expectations. Same-store sales dropped 4.3%.

Wesley Chapel, Fla. -- RMC Property Group said it has been awarded the exclusive leasing assignment for Meadow Pointe, a 17,280-sq.-ft. neighborhood retail center situated within a 1,800-acre residential community in the fast-growing Wesley Chapel market.   

Meadow Pointe is located adjacent to a CVS Pharmacy and has retail space opportunities ranging from 1,200 sq. ft. to 10,500 sq. ft.

Memphis, Tenn. -- Fred's on Tuesday said third-quarter net income dropped 27% amid rising costs and declining same-store sales, as sales in its established stores dropped and its costs rose.

The company reported Tuesday that it earned $6.6 million in the three months through Oct. 27, compared with $9 million a year earlier.

Revenue rose 1% to $450.6 million. Same-store sales were down 2.5%.

General expenses rose 4% to $118.1 million, fueled in party by higher labor costs and new store opening costs.  

Any trickle-down of an improving economy hasn't trickled down to Fred's consumer base, Bruce Efird, Fred's CEO, told analysts Tuesday morning in discussing the discounter's third-quarter results. "During the third quarter we continue to see generally weak economic conditions throughout the Southeast which are clearly weighing heavily on our customers and influencing how they shop for their basic needs," he said. "It's more evident that things are not getting better for our core customers."

Philadelphia -- Urban Outfitters reported Monday that net income in the third quarter rose 17.4% to $59.5 million, compared with $50.7 million in the prior-year period but missing Wall Street estimates.

Sales rose 13.6% to $692.9 million, narrowly missing analysts’ expected $692.5 million in revenue. Same-store sales dipped 1%.

Covington, La. -- Stirling Properties has announced it will develop a new full-service Walgreens drugstore in Gulfport, Miss.  

The proposed Walgreens will be located on a former Gulfmart Shopping Center site. Stirling Properties is providing development services, including lease negotiation, financing, and project management, to a third party owner of the property.