Distribution

The Lovely Candy Company has expanded its gluten- and GMO-free line with a gluten-free licorice, which it touts as the first gluten-free extruded licorice product in North America.

Branded as Lovely Licorice, the product is marketed to consumers with food sensitivities such as celiac disease. The gluten-free licorice is the brainchild of company founder Mike Nakamura, whose wife has not been able to have licorice because of her gluten-free dietary restraints. Nakamura founded the company in 2013 as a result of her request for licorice she could eat.

On the heels of a mostly disappointing 2013 earnings season, many U.S. brick-and-mortar retailers will focus on building out their online presence for growth, according to Moody’s Investor Service’s new report, “Brick-and-Mortar Continues to March Online,” by Charlie O’Shea, VP – senior analyst, Moody’s.

Here are five highlights from the study:

Unilever has signed an agreement for the sale of its North America pasta sauces business under the Ragu and Bertolli brands to Mizkan Group for a total cash consideration of approximately $2.15 billion. The annual turnover for Ragu and Bertolli is more than $600 million.

The transaction includes two production facilities — a sauce processing and packaging facility in Owensboro, Ky., and a tomato processing facility in Stockton, Calif.

While many retailers were still reeling from a prolonged winter that hurt their first quarter results, Michaels saw solid results in its first quarter, posting increases in both net and comparable-store sales.

New York -- Michaels posted increases on both net and same-stores sales for the first quarter.

Net sales increased 5.9% to $1.05 billion from $993 million during last year’s first quarter. Comparable store sales increased 3.8% driven by a 2.4% increase in the company's average ticket, a 1.3% increase in transactions and a 10 basis point positive impact from deferred custom framing revenue.

Following disappointing results during the first quarter of fiscal 2014, which were consistent with the company’s expectations, American Eagle Outfitters has decided to close 150 stores in North America during the next three years, including nearly 100 AE stores.

For 2014, the company plans on closing approximately 50 AE and 20 aerie stores in North America. The store closings will translate to annualized after-tax savings of between $10 and $15 million beginning in 2015.

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to open 30 new China-based stores and remodel 55 of its 400 existing stores there during 2014, as well as open new China distribution centers. The China activity is part of Wal-Mart’s larger three-year plan for growth in the country.

Wal-Mart will spend $93 million on the store remodeling. The activity this year will be the first major initiative from new China CEO Sean Clarke.

Washington, D.C. – Organized retail crime (ORC) is down slightly from 2013 but still a pervasive problem. According to the National Retail Federation’s 10th annual Organized Retail Crime Survey, which polled 76 senior retail loss prevention executives, eight-in-10 (88.2%) retailers report that they have been a victim of ORC in the past year, down slightly from 93.5% in 2013.