Supply Chain & Merchandising

Target’s annual shareholders’ meeting will be held June 9 in downtown Chicago at the location of a soon-to-open CityTarget store on State Street. The venue is an interesting choice that speaks volumes about the potential for the new urban format.

New York -- The retail industry is still assessing the impact of two major deals that occurred within 24 hours of each other. On Tuesday, May, 1, shoe manufacturer Wolverine Worldwide Inc. and equity firms Blum Capital Partners and Golden Gate Capital agreed to acquire footwear giant Collective Brands Inc., operator of Payless Shoe Source, in a deal valued at $2 billion, including assumption of debt. And on Wednesday, May 2, Ascena Retail Group said it will acquire Charming Shoppes Inc., parent company of Lane Bryant, for about $890 million.

New York -- Target will soon stop selling the Amazon Kindle line of e-readers and tablets.

Target representative Molly Snyder said the company is "phasing out Kindles and Amazon- and Kindle-branded products in the spring of 2012,” in a report on CNNMoney.com.

The retailer has declined to comment on the specific date or the reason that the products will no longer be on its shelves. The chain will continue to sell other e-readers, including the Barnes and Noble’s Nook.

Woonsocket, R.I. -- CVS Caremark reported Wednesday that profit for the quarter ended March 31 rose 9% to $776 million, compared with $713 million in the year-ago period.

Revenues surged 20% to a record $30.8 billion boosted by rival Walgreen’s termination of its Express Scripts program, which moved Walgreen customers over to CVS. The results beat Wall Street’s expected $30.3 billion in revenue for the quarter.

Same-store sales climbed more than 8%.

Houston -- After a thorough evaluation of major leading profitability systems, Cabela’s Inc. has selected Acorn Systems’ Performance Analyzer because of its expertise in profitability management and its ability to provide a flexible, scalable and elegant platform to drive true net SKU profitability analytics.

Brampton, Ontario -- Canadian grocery chain Loblaw Cos. reported Wednesday that net income for the first quarter plummeted 22% to $128 million, compared with $156 million in the year-ago period. The country’s largest food retailer was squeezed by higher costs and heightened competition as Wal-Mart Stores continues its march into Loblaw territories.

Revenues for the quarter edged up .9% to $7.02 billion. Same-store sales dipped 0.7%.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark’s president and CEO Larry Merlo told analysts Wednesday morning that he was “very pleased” with its first quarter, as results across both the retail and pharmacy benefit management segments came in at the high end of expectations and its integrated assets continue to demonstrate success and improve patient lives.

Atlanta -- Aldata announced that Raley’s Family of Fine Stores, a California-based supermarket chain, has expanded its use of Aldata Space Automation to create and maintain category- to store-specific planograms for high-volume categories, and, in turn, enable broader vendor collaboration.