Supply Chain & Merchandising

London -- A Thursday report by Reuters said that British sports retailer Sports Direct will buy 60 stores from struggling competitor JJB Sports.

Citing an unnamed source, Reuters reported that JJB said it is close to appointing KPMG as administrators to sell its assets and brands after failing to receive an offer for the entire company.

JJB operates 180 stores. Sports Direct is majority-owned by Mike Ashley, owner of the Newcastle United soccer club. He will pay about $48 million for the 60 stores.

New York -- A new report from PwC US and Kantar Retail suggests that the retail industry may be transitioning to a 'post-modern' consumer-centric era triggered by the speed of technological advancements, globalization and hyper-competition, both online and offline.

The Retailing 2020 report recommended that successful retailers will need to transform themselves to grow in an increasingly polarized world of greater channel fragmentation that will result in greater non-store retail growth and smaller retail formats.

SIDNEY, Neb. — Cabela’s Inc. will open a Cabela’s Outpost Store in Kalispell, Mont., joining the outdoor retailer’s single full-line Billings store in the state.

Construction on the 42,000-sq.-ft. location is scheduled to begin in spring 2013 and Cabela’s said it expects to open the store in fall 2013.

Suffern, N.Y. -- Ascena Retail Group Inc. said Thursday it is planning a $34 million expansion that will add new equipment, systems and about 40,000 sq. ft. of space to its Greencastle, Ind., distribution facility.

The apparel retailer said that the objective is to turn its Greencastle facility into a primary e-commerce distribution site. The facility is located about 40 miles west of Indianapolis and was part of Ascena’s acquisition of Charming Shoppes Inc.

Dodgeville, Wis. -- A Wednesday report by the Wisconsin State Journal said that Lands End plans to cut nearly 200 jobs in its headquarters town of Dodgeville, Wis., by the end of January.

Blaming growth of its online business at the expense of bricks-and-mortar stores, Lands End said it is culling its call center workforce by 29% and streamlining other operations. Fifty of the eliminated positions are corporate headquarters jobs and 25 are from the call center. All cuts were made Wednesday.

Hong Kong -- Esprit Holdings Ltd. reported Wednesday that net income of the fiscal year ended June 30 surged to $112.6 million, compared with $10.2 million the year before, boosted by one-time writeoffs for store closures.

Sales dropped 11% to $3.89 billion from $4.35 billion.

Corporate governance is a familiar topic, especially to Walmart and its suppliers, but the concept of supply chain governance is less well understood.

A global leader in the space, MetricStream, aims to change that. In a nutshell, the frim explains that supply chain governance is about helping organizations streamline and manage their supplier quality and performance while also identifying, mitigating and managing supplier risks for key procurement and manufacturing process.

Tallahassee, Fla. -- Jacksonville, Fla.-based Regency Centers has announced the completion of two new anchor leases and the renovation of Carriage Gate, a 78,583-sq.-ft. neighborhood center, located in Tallahassee, Fla.