Distribution

Athleisure apparel continues to be a driver of growth for Columbia Sportswear Co., which posted record sales in its first quarter.

REI is looking to strengthen its omnichannel capabilities with a new distribution center in Arizona.

The outdoor retailer that it will open a third distribution center, located in Goodyear, Ariz., in 2016 to better support its website, stores and customers through faster product replenishment and delivery.

Seattle - REI will open a third distribution center, located in Goodyear, Arizona. The specialty outdoor retailers seeks to better support its stores and customers through faster product replenishment and delivery.

Quincy, Mass. -- Stop & Shop has broken ground on the company’s first anaerobic digester at its distribution center in Freetown, Massachusetts. The state-of-the-art digester will turn food scraps into clean energy.

As part of its sustainability efforts, Stop & Shop plans to donate and divert as much food waste and unsold food as possible to regional food banks and farms. But food that cannot be donated will be sent to the digester. The supermarket retailer has set a long-term goal to divert 90% of waste going to landfills.

Front-end omnichannel success relies on back-end fulfillment

The front-end promise of omnichannel retail cannot be delivered without investment in back-end technology and processes that allow fulfillment of orders across multiple channels. Retailers must eliminate internal silos and obtain real-time awareness of their full inventory.

Omnichannel fulfillment is a difficult, but not impossible, task.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon was in Beijing on Wednesday, where he put a finer point on a previously announced international expansion plan that will include a blend of 115 new stores, remodels and select closures in the world’s second largest economy.

McMillon and Walmart Asia CEO Scott Price participated in a press conference in Beijing, where the emphasis was on the retailer’s physical expansion in a market where overall economic rates of growth have been decelerating with little mention of e-commerce.

Smart & Final Stores Inc. credited strong merchandising and marketing initiatives with the retailer's impressive jump in same store sales for the first quarter.

Minneapolis – Net earnings at Supervalu Inc. fell 14% to $36 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 from $42 million in the identical period a year earlier. Higher selling and administrative expenses, including store closure and benefit costs, helped reduce profits.