Supply Chain & Merchandising

Unfazed by Walmart’s resurgent customer traffic and same-store sales rebound, the nation’s second largest grocer this week hung its 34 consecutive quarter of identical-store sales growth on the board.

Ankey, Ohio -- Casey's General Stores Inc. reported that its fiscal fourth-quarter profit fell short of expectations due to weak margins on gasoline sales.

The convenience store operator said that it earned $23.1 million for the quarter that ended April 30, up from $22.8 million last year. Revenue increased 13% to $1.75 billion.

Casey's said that its gas margins were down nearly two cents per gallon compared with last year. However, the company said it was able offset that with strong sales and margin gains inside its stores.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway has transitioned to using reusable product containers (RPCs), rather than corrugated boxes, to ship many types of produce from the farm fields, through the distribution channel and to final store destination. This transition eliminated the use of over 17 million pounds of corrugated boxes.

Old Bridge, N.J. -- Driven by new big-box store closures, the vacancy rate in retail properties along northern New Jersey's six major shopping corridors edged up to 8.2% in April from 8.1% a year ago and 8.0% in 2010, according to R.J. Brunelli & Co.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — OfficeMax has launched a new delivery program that reuses and recycles boxes it uses for deliveries to business customers. The new program – Boomerang Box by OfficeMax – is projected to reduce box consumption by 80% among participating businesses.

New York -- U.S. retail sales declined in April and May, pulled down by a sharp 2.2% drop in gas stations sales in both months, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

But excluding volatile gas station sales, retail sales increased only modestly in May and dipped in April.

Total retail sales fell in April to $404.6 billion, slightly below March's record level of $406.2 billion and 21.6% higher than the recession low hit in March 2009.

MINNEAPOLIS — Canned peaches, criminal records and political contributions were among the top shareholder concerns expressed at Target’s annual meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

New York -- Francesca's Holdings Corp.’s first-quarter performance surpassed expectations, helped by strong demand for its product. The chain’s earnings more than doubled to $8.7 million.

Net sales increased 48.6% to $61.3 million. Same-store sales rose 15.5%.