Supply Chain & Merchandising

Chicago -- Galleria announced that Giant Eagle has signed an agreement to deploy its Behavioral Cluster Planning solution, a behavioral-based clustering solution that provides consumer insight and analysis.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- A 2.3% same-store sales gain at Kmart was not enough to offset a 6% decline at Sears resulting in an overall 1.7% decline for the combined companies domestic operations during the five week December reporting period ended Jan. 1.

New York City -- At the National Retail Federation Convention in New York City on Monday, Fujitsu announced the unveiling of a new checkout technology that is designed to significantly reduce checkout times, improve customer experience and reduce operational costs.

The Kroger Co. is currently evaluating the new technology, called the Advantage Checkout System, in a limited number of its stores, according to Fujitsu. The team said they will demo the product live at the convention Jan. 10-13.

New York City -- SAS on Monday announced a 5-year agreement with Winn-Dixie Stores around the company’s marketing and merchandising analytics offering.

“We chose SAS because of their strong commitment to retail and analytical excellence,” stated Maura Hart, Winn-Dixie’s CIO. “This partnership will enhance our customers’ shopping experience with the implementation of SAS’ technology and resources to provide improvements in pricing, assortment and category management.”

New York City -- The 100th annual “Big Show,” the National Retail Federation’s annual event in New York City, launched at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on Sunday, Jan. 9 with a lineup of sessions and plenty of buzz.

One of the most talked-about topics? Facebook has a booth at NRF this year, representing the power that social media does, and will, play in the retail industry.

City of Commerce, Calif. -- Third-quarter sales growth was hard to come by at 99 Cents Only as the extreme value retailer’s heavy concentration of stores in Southern California were negatively affected by unseasonably strong rains that hit the region prior to Christmas.

NEW YORK — Fujitsu on Monday unveiled its latest checkout technology at the National Retail Federation trade show.

According to the company, the new technology boasts reduced time on lines and a customer-friendly checkout experience. Fujitsu also said that supermarket giant Kroger currently is evaluating the new technology in a limited number of its stores to boost the retailer's Advanced Checkout areas.

Houston -- Stage Stores said Monday that Oded Shein has joined the company as executive VP and CFO.

Shein succeeds Edward Record, who was appointed COO in February 2010, but retained the CFO responsibilities while the search for his replacement was underway.

Shein will report to Record and will oversee the company’s accounting, internal and external financial reporting, tax, investor relations, financial planning and analysis, loss prevention, and treasury operations.