Supply Chain & Merchandising

Sandpoint, Idaho -- Coldwater Creek Inc. has promoted Jim Bell to the newly created position of executive VP and COO. He will oversee the retailer's information technology systems, real estate, distribution and logistics, planning and allocation, and finance.

Bell is currently the company's chief financial officer, and will continue to fill that role in his new job, the company said Thursday.
 

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens said its same-store sales in January fell 4.6% in the wake of its decision to stop doing business with a major  pharmacy benefits manager. A weak flu season also figured into its results.

Walgreen stopped filling prescriptions for patients in the Express Scripts network on December 31, 2011. Pharmacy same-store sales were down 7.9% in January.
 

New York City -- Kohl’s Department Stores and Walmart rank among the nation’s top purchasers of power according to the EPA’s most recent Green Power Partnership report. Kohl’s placed second in the ranking, while Walmart came in at third, followed by Whole Foods Market. Intel Corp. maintained its long-held top spot. Other retailers in the top 10 included Starbucks (No. 7) and Staples (No.9).

Salisbury, N.C. -- Bottom Dollar Food will open an additional seven stores in the greater Pittsburgh and Youngstown, Ohio, markets on Feb. 9

The discount grocer opened its first seven stores in the greater Pittsburgh area on Jan. 26.
 

Denver -- Chipotle Mexican Grill expects to open 155–165 new Chipotle locations in 2012.

"While this is more restaurants than we've ever opened in a single year, we are confident," said co-CEO Montgomery Moran in the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. Moran cited the "quality of what's in the real estate pipeline."

 

Deerfield, Ill. -- BioScrip Inc. said it will sell certain assets of its community specialty pharmacies and centralized specialty and mail service pharmacy businesses to Walgreens for about $225 million.

The deal includes about $170 million in cash at closing and retention by BioScrip of associated accounts receivable and working capital liabilities of about $55 million.

New York City -- The nation’s discount chains reported solid results for January, with Target Corp., TJX Cos., and Costco Wholesale Corp. all reporting gains above expectations. Overall, discounters reported stronger results than department stores, which appeared to take a greater hit due to the unseasonably warm weather and heavy promotions.

As the first month of the year, January accounts for only 20% Nov.-Jan. sales, and 7% of annual sales, according to RetailMetrics.

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples announced the appointment of Mike Edwards to executive VP, U.S. retail merchandising. He previously served as president and CEO of Borders Group and had also served as the company’s chief merchant.