Technology

NEW YORK — Walmart's e-commerce division is following Amazon's lead by starting programs to allow customers to order items online and then pick them up from lockers stationed at brick-and-mortar retailers.

Amazon has been running such a program for a couple of years in a few major cities, including installing the lockers at Rite Aid stores in cities like New York. The lockers allow customers to select a locker location for delivery and then retrieve ordered items automatically using a six-digit code.

Empty shelves at Walmart are getting a lot of attention these days, but the situation isn’t new and can’t be blamed entirely on store staffing levels.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens reported Wednesday that sales for the month of March increased 2.3% to $6.2 billion.

Total front-end sales increased 5.4% compared with the same month in fiscal 2012, while same-store front-end sales increased 4.2%. Front-end sales will have benefited from a March 31 Easter — last year Easter sales fell in April. As a result Walgreens said it will report combined comps for March and April with its April sales results.
 

MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu chief Sam Duncan continues to finalize his leadership team by naming Karla Robertson as EVP legal.

Oklahoma City -- CVS Caremark Corp. will pay $11 million to settle federal claims that the company’s pharmacies in the state violated record-keeping requirements of the Controlled Substances Act.

Federal prosecutor Sanford Coats said Wednesday that CVS has agreed to the settlement to resolve all allegations. However, while CVS said that its stores must comply with the record-keeping requirements, it does not admit liability.

Food Lion store manager Charles Inman received the retailer’s highest honor this week and offered yet another example of the growth potential the retail industry offers.

Inman joined Food Lion in 2002 as a cashier and over the years held positions of increasing responsibility, including produce manager, office manager and assistant store manager.　He was later promoted to store manager and was recently selected from among a group of 1,119 store managers to receive the retailer’s Store Manager Excellence Award.

HAMPSTEAD, Md., — JoS. A. Bank Clothiers reported that its net sales for the fiscal year were $1.05 billion, representing a 7.1% gain as compared with net sales of $979.9 million in fiscal year 2011. Comparable-store sales decreased 0.5% during fiscal year 2012, while direct marketing sales increased 22.7%. Combined comparable-store and Internet sales in fiscal year 2012 increased 2% when compared with fiscal year 2011.

New York -- Staples named former Walmart.com CEO Raul Vazquez to serve on its the board of directors.

Vazquez currently serves as CEO and a director of Progreso Financiero, financial services firm focused on serving the needs of "under-banked" Hispanic customers. The election of directors at Staples will take place at the company’s annual meeting on June 3.