Supply Chain & Merchandising

A monthly pricing survey by Credit Suisse showed Walmart had the lowest overall basket price in Dallas and Chicago and suggest that where prices head from here is up to Walmart.

DEERFIELD, Ill. and BELLEVUE, Wash. — Shortly after posting record second-quarter sales on Tuesday, Walgreens announced that it would "accelerate its online strategy" by acquiring e-retailer Drugstore.com for about $429 million, subject to customary conditions.

Grapevine, Texas -- GameStop Corp. reported Thursday that net earnings for the quarter ended Jan. 29 rose 10.1% to $237.8 million, compared with $215.9 million in the year-ago period.

Total sales increased 4.8% to $3.69 billion, from $3.52 billion. Same-store sales increased 2.6%.

For the year, total sales increased 4.3% to an all-time high of $9.47 billion, in comparison to $9.08 billion in fiscal 2009. Same-store sales increased 1.1%. Net earnings increased 8.1% to a record $408 million.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens announced that it would "accelerate its online strategy" by acquiring e-retailer Drugstore.com. The deal, worth about $429 million, gives Walgreens access to 3 million online customers.

By Giles Sutton, J.D., LL.M, [email protected]

Gift-card sales have surged in recent years. With electronic or virtual gift cards and mobile applications that allow consumers to purchase and redeem gift cards from their mobile/smartphones, sales only continue to grow. While consumers flock to them for their flexibility, businesses have embraced them as a means to increase sales. Not only are buyers spurred into making new purchases, but they often spend more than the gift-card amount.

Memphis, Tenn. -- Fred's reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended Jan. 29 rose 48% to $8.6 million, compared with $5.8 million in the year-ago period.

The discount retailer cited a better merchandise selection and store upgrades for the improved performance, which topped Wall Street expectations.

Revenue rose 3% to $485.6 million from $473.1 million, missing analysts’ forecast of $487.3 million in revenue. Same-store sales rose 2.3%.

Walmart’s small format desires certainly haven’t gone unnoticed by the folks at Dollar General, a company that appears bent on saturating the marketplace with small discount stores. Last year, Dollar General opened 600 new stores and remodeled or relocated 504 other stores to end its fiscal year with 9,372 stores. This year, more of the same is planned with the expansion figure getting a bump to 625 new units, while the number of remodels and relocations expands to 550 units.

Bentonville, Ark. -- A comprehensive waste reduction program has resulted in Walmart eliminating more than 80% of the waste that would go to landfills from its operations in California. Walmart’s results exceed both the national average landfill diversion rate of 45% and the California rate of 65%. The program is now being implemented across all of the company’s 4,400 U.S. locations, including Sam’s Club units and distribution centers.