Data & Analytics

San Bruno, Calif. -- Sears has opened a store in the heart of the Silicon Valley dedicated to smart technology products for the home.

The retailer’s new “connected solutions” flagship is located at The Shops at Tanforan shopping center, in San Bruno, California. The 4,000-sq.-ft. store features a living room, kitchen, nursery, workout room, garage and outdoor area where consumers can experience the benefits of smart technology firsthand.  

Sears has opened a new connected home flagship store near Silicon Valley and Ryan Ciovacco, president of consumer electronics and connected solutions, spoke with Retailing Today about the major initiative.

While the Confederate flag has been an increasing source of controversy in recent years, retailers have long sold items featuring its image with no major outcry. But following the tragic shooting in Charleston, consumer sentiment against the “Stars and Bars” intensified to a degree that made selling Confederate flag-themed merchandise unacceptable to a large portion of the public within a few days.

New York -- Dutch supermarket giant Ahold has agreed to buy Belgian rival Delhaize, creating the sixth largest food retailer in the United States. Keith Anderson, VP of strategy & insights for Profitero, and formerly a retail analyst with RetailNet Group, offers his thoughts on what led to the merger, and what it may bring.  

Dollar General Corp. has promoted one of its finance executives to serve as interim chief financial officer.

The company says John W. Garratt will serve as interim chief financial officer effective July 1. He follows David Tehle, who had previously announced his retirement in March.

San Francisco - Instacart is utilizing Zebra's hosted Zatar Internet of Things (IoT) platform for cloud printing and device management of Zebra printers. This new solution allows Instacart to print labels at locations across the U.S. securely and accurately.

Instacart chose to use the Zatar IoT platform for its ability to connect to and control devices in third-party locations via an API. The solution connects Instacart's printers to the cloud and enables the organization to interact with, monitor and manage Zebra printers globally.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. - Dollar General Corp. has promoted one of its finance executives to interim CFO.

The discounter named John W. Garratt as interim CFO effective July 1. He follows David Tehle, who had previously announced his retirement in March 2015.

Garratt, who is currently the senior VP of finance and strategy, will now oversee all aspects of the company’s financial, accounting and information technology operations until a new CFO is in place.

New York -- Discounter 99 Cents Only has appointed a former Walmart executive as interim CFO — for the second time.

Less than a month after former Kmart executive Andy Giancamilli was named interim president and CEO, 99 Cents named Michael Fung to the role of CFO.