Distribution

The recent Momentum 2016 conference held by Manhattan Associates in Orlando, Florida, was a great opportunity to catch up on the latest developments in supply chain solutions and strategies. Here are three especially important retail supply chain trends uncovered and explained at the event: Supply chain is key to omnichannel

Moving forward with its promise to streamline its business model, Gap Inc. said it plans to close its fleet of 53 Old Navy stores in Japan and also shutter some Banana Republic stores, primarily outside of North America.

The retailer announced the moves on Thursday in its first quarter results, which marked the chain's fifth straight quarter of lower revenue and profit. The company also said it would not reaffirm its earnings guidance for the fiscal year.

While other retailers make news by posting grim first quarter results and closing stores., the nation’s leading off-price retailer is making headlines by doing just the opposite. Amid strong first quarter results that included a 7% rise in same-store sales, TJX Cos. said it plans to open about 150 more stores during the rest of this year, on top of the 47 stores it opened in its first quarter.

A career that began in 1974 as a Giant Eagle supermarket clerk will end on June 30, 2016 as one of the company’s most instrumental figures in recent decades, president and COO John Lucot, will retire after 42 years of service to the Pittsburgh-area grocer.

For vertical medical accessory retailer Cielo Pill Holders, simply getting its products in front of potential customers is a key business challenge. To meet this challenge and also obtain third-party fulfillment support, North Bend, Washington-based Cielo has been leveraging the Amazon Exclusives program of the Amazon Marketplace platform since summer 2015. The Exclusives Program, which provides extra benefits in exchange for agreement not to sell items on any other third-party retail platform.

Walmart offered its own version of the Amazon Prime Day online sales event last summer, and now is directly taking on Amazon Prime. The discount giant is piloting a two-day version of its paid ShippingPass unlimited online delivery program. Normally, customers pay $50 per year for the ability to obtain three-day delivery of more than 1 million items Walmart.com with no additional fees.

Party City Holdco Inc. narrowed its loss in the first quarter as gross margins improved. The party supplies retailer and wholesaler reported a loss of $394,000, in line with Wall Street expectations, for the quarter ended March 31, down from a loss of $8.5 million in the year-ago period. Total revenue was flat at $457.7 million, which missed Street forecasts.

It’s a sobering statistic: North American retailers lose $158.5 billion annually to supplier issues. Out of stocks cause 4.1 percent in lost revenue, according to retailwire.com; just as troubling, overstocks result in 3.2 percent in lost revenue for the average retailer. Retailers continue to refine their compliance programs to strike the right balance of inventory and meeting higher consumer service standards.

Petco is expanding its store portfolio and distribution center network. In keeping with its 2016 growth plan, which includes 27 new store openings year-to-date, Petco will open a new distribution center on May 11, 2016, in Reno, Nevada. The company will also open a new Unleashed by Petco store in Maryland, and re-open a newly expanded Southern California Petco store in place of a previous Unleashed by Petco locations.

Consumers looking to sell their unwanted treasures now have a new option thanks to a partnership between eBay Inc. and FedEx Office. The two companies are teaming up to offer eBay Valet drop-off locations at more than 1,600 FedEx Office stores nationwide over the coming months.