Business Intelligence (BI)

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens announced Friday its 100th rooftop solar power system installation, marking the drugstore retailer’s continued commitment to sustainability.

The announcement of the latest installation, in Mason, Ohio, comes on the heels of Wednesday’s report that Walgreens would complete one of the nation’s largest solar energy rollouts, contracting with SoCore Energy to complete 90 Ohio solar installations – the first 53 by Nov. 11.

PALO ALTO, Calif. — HP announced that its board of directors has appointed Meg Whitman as president and CEO.

In addition, Ray Lane has moved from non-executive chairman to executive chairman of the board of directors, and the board intends to appoint a lead independent director promptly. These leadership appointments are effective immediately and follow the decision that Léo Apotheker step down as president and CEO and resign as a director of the company, the company reported.

CHICAGO — In the wake of several surveys projecting how shoppers will spend this holiday season, the latest study from ShopperTrak expects national retail sales to increase 3% during November and December, while foot traffic will drop 2.2%.

ShopperTrak said its 3% holiday sales increase prediction follows 19 consecutive months of year-over-year U.S. retail sales growth, adding that the expected increase is moderate when compared with the 2010 holiday season's 4.1% sales increase over 2009.

New York City -- SAP announced it will acquire business-to-business (B2B) integration provider Crossgate, Munich. A leading provider of hosted B2B integration services, Crossgate enables companies to fully integrate and network with trading partners, clients and suppliers, allowing electronic data exchange with any business partner regardless of their technical capability.

Dallas -- Lucernex Technologies said Tuesday that Aaron’s has selected Lucernex’s Lx Retail to manage its over 1,800 stores in 48 states and Canada.

“After evaluating our operational requirements, we realized that we needed more than just a replacement for our legacy lease administration system.  We needed an integrated approach to managing our real estate. Lucernex offers a solution that will allow us to manage the entire store life cycle in one database and on one platform,” said senior VP real estate, Paul Doize.

Indianapolis -- Shopping center owner Simon Property Group said Tuesday that it has again been recognized by the Carbon Disclosure Project with inclusion in its Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index.

BURLINGTON, N.J. — Burlington Coat Factory reported that total sales for its second quarter increased 8.9% to $793 million and comparable-store sales were up 4%.

For the year-to-date, total sales rose 6.1% to $1.8 billion and same-store sales climbed 2.1%.

Winston-Salem, N.C. — Family Dollar Stores has found itself a way to better understand how customers respond to its in-store displays and promotions, and how they can be improved to generate more sales. The discount retailer has engaged RockTenn, manufacturer of consumer packaging solutions and BVI Networks, a provider of real-time in-store monitoring, to open the first large format "ShopperGauge" branded retail learning lab at Family Dollar Stores.