Supply Chain & Merchandising

Chicago -- Fraud prevention and risk management provider Accertify said Thursday that Forever 21 will deploy its fraud prevention solution, customized to the retailer’s e-commerce business.

Forever 21 said it is growing its online presence internationally and turned to Accertify, an American Express company, to process and decrease risk in Forever 21’s online transactions.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Ross Stores continues to deliver on consumers' demands for value and delivered a profitable fourth quarter that met Wall Street expectations. The company reported that profit for the quarter ended Jan. 28 rose 19% to $192 million, from $161.8 million last year. 

Sales surged almost 12% to $2.4 billion, and same-store sales increased 7%.

For the full year, Ross reported a net income rise of 18% to $657.2 million. Sales increased 9% to $8.6 billion, with same-store sales up 5%.

Folsom, Calif. -- Commercial refrigeration manufacturer Hill Phoenix said Wednesday it teamed with Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to open a new GreenChill Platinum Award-winning Fresh & Easy store in Folsom, Calif.

GreenChill is an E.P.A. partnership with food retailers to reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease their impact on the ozone layer and climate change.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- A former Safeway executive has joined Dollar General as its executive VP store operations.

Effective March 19, Greg Sparks will assume all responsibilities for the operations of more than 9,900 retail stores in 38 states and serve on Dollar General's real estate and store development committee, the company said. Sparks will report to chairman and CEO Rick Dreiling.

Sparks most recently served as president of Safeway's Seattle division. His departure from the supermarket retailer was announced earlier this week.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings Corp. revealed in a Wednesday document that it will close 43 Sears hometown dealer stores and 10 Sears Hardware stores over the first half of 2012.

The information came from the retailer’s annual report, filed late Wednesday, and is consistent with previously announced plans to close up to 120 underperforming Sears and Kmart stores and all nine of its remaining Great Indoors stores.

FOLSOM, Calif. — Fresh & Easy announced that its new store in Folsom, Calif., received the platinum-level store certification award from the Environmental Protection Agency's GreenChill Partnership.

While the platinum award puts Fresh & Easy — which joined EPA's GreenChill in 2009 — among the nation's 36,000 grocery stores, the Folsom location is the second store in California, and one of four grocery stores in the nation, to achieve these standards.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- In a move to ensure that vendors continue to supply Sears its goods, Sears Holdings Corp.'s top shareholder ESL Investments, a hedge fund owned by Edward Lampert, has agreed to assume some payment obligations.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday and reported by Reuters, Sears said ESL made a deal on Jan. 26 with a financial institution to acquire 80% interest in an agreement designed to ensure payment to vendors in the event of a bankruptcy filing by a company.

Tide laundry detergent is so popular with shoppers that it is regularly featured on the cover of Target’s weekly circular as a means to generate customer traffic, but it appears the detergent brand’s popularity is causing it to generate the wrong kind of traffic. A story by the Associated Press points out this week that Tide has become a frequent target of shoplifters at retailers nationwide and the new currency of an underground economy.