Supply Chain & Merchandising

Burlington, N.J. -- Burlington Coat Factory will open a flagship in Manhattan this fall. It will be the off-price retailer’s sixth location in New York City. The 92,000-sq.-ft., three-level store will be in a building managed by Vornado Real Estate, on the south end of Union Square.

The Union Square flagship is part of a broader plan by Burlington to open more than 20 new stores in 2012.
 

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Women’s clothing retailer Chico’s FAS has chosen HP Performance Optimized Data Center (POD) technology as part of an HP Converged Infrastructure to increase productivity by providing employees at more than 600 stores nationwide with access to the company’s virtual private cloud.

By creating a scalable private cloud to meet the company’s need for expansion, Chico’s has improved operational efficiencies while also increasing agility, HP said.

New York -- Canada’s Jean Coutu Group has sold 56 million of its approximately 234.4 million shares in Rite Aid, the company said Friday.

The Canadian retailing group said the $83.6 million sale, which amounts to a 23.9%% reduction in the number of Rite Aid shares the company owns, would reduce its stake in Camp Hill, Pa.-based Rite Aid to 19.85%. The Jean Coutu group still owns about 178.4 million shares in the 4,667-store chain.

New York -- Kate Spade New York has chosen ConcretePlatform to enhance its international and domestic trading capabilities. Offered as a subscription-based cloud service, ConcretePlatform contains a number of flexible applications – accessed via a browser - that allow brands to trade with their partners across the wholesale, franchise and wholly owned markets, as well as the vast supply network that supports today’s retail community, the company said.

LONGUEUIL, Quebec — The Jean Coutu Group has sold 56 million of its approximately 234.4 million shares in Rite Aid, the company said Friday.

The Canadian retailing group said the $83.6 million, $1.51-per-share sale, which amounts to a nearly 24% reduction in the number of Rite Aid shares the company owns, would reduce its stake in Camp Hill, Pa.-based Rite Aid to 19.85%. The Jean Coutu group still owns about 178.4 million shares in the 4,667-store chain.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe's has created two new executive positions, with the goal of streamlining its operations to better serve its customers. The new positions are chief customer officer and chief operating officer, and they will be filled by current EVP business development, Gregory Bridgeford, and Rick Damron, EVP store operations, respectively. The promotions are effective May 5, and both executives will report to Robert Niblock, chairman, president and CEO.

Walmart held another one of its sustainability milestone meetings this week and webcast the event live from the auditorium at its home office. By the time the hour-and-a-half event was over the senior executives who participated had delivered a clear and consistent message around the company’s wide-ranging sustainability efforts.

Milwaukee -- The Milwaukee office of Opus Development Corp. announced that T.J Maxx, Ulta Salon, Rue 21 and Charming Charlie’s will be the first tenants in the second phase of its Shoppes at Fox River retail development in Waukesha, Wis.