Supply Chain & Merchandising

AUSTIN, Texas -- Whole Foods Market announced that it is on track to stop selling all red-rated swordfish and tuna at its seafood counters nationwide by this Earth Day, April 22.

Chicago -- Jones Lang LaSalle said Monday that, on behalf of Monroe Investment Partners LLC, it has closed the sale of a 13.5-acre parcel on Chicago’s South Side to Walmart, which purchased the shovel-ready pad in the Chatham Market shopping center to build a 155,000-sq.-ft. supercenter.

This will be the first of six new full-scale stores Walmart has announced it plans to build in the City of Chicago.

New York City -- J. Crew said Tuesday that it plans a $20 million expansion of its Lynchburg, Va., distribution center to facilitate the retailer’s goal of selling more clothes overseas.

According to a report in the Lynchburg newspaper News & Advance, J. Crew is slated to open its first store outside the tates and start shipping orders to Europe by the end of 2011. Those orders will be filled at J. Crew’s facility in Lynchburg.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Finish Line announced that Donald Gualdoni has been appointed VP business development and corporate strategy, effective April 14.

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. -- Kohl’s Department Stores announced that the company will be recognized as a 2011 Energy Star Partner of the Year for the second consecutive year at the Energy Star Awards ceremony held in Washington, D.C. The Partner of the Year Award is presented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Energy.

Dallas -- Tuesday Morning Corp. reported Tuesday that sales for the quarter ended March 31 rose 1.3% to $174.3 million, compared with $172 million in the year-ago period.

Same-store sales edged up 0.7%, as traffic dipped 3.2% and average ticket increased 3.9%.

The retailer said it expects capital expenditures of $19 million and to end the fiscal year with 10 to 13 more stores than at the end of the previous year.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores said Tuesday it plans to reduce space for electronics in its U.S. stores, saying that sales in that category have declined.

The company will reduce floor space devoted to items such as flat-screen televisions and give some of that space to apparel, according to Rosalind Brewer, who runs the Wal-Mart East division and addressed a retail conference in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Target had forecast a mid-single decline in its March same-store sales, so the 5.5% decline it reported last week was no surprise. The late arrival of Easter is messing with retailers’ sales comparisons, so even though March was a down month for Target, it could have been worse as the comparison with the prior year was a lofty 10.3%. Therefore, last month’s 5.5% decline is a victory of sorts, and March results for retailers overall were better than expected.