Data & Analytics

Cal-Maine Foods isn’t due to report its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended May 31 until the end of the month, but already it has reached annual sales of more than 1 billion dozen eggs for fiscal 2014 with an expected total of 1.014 billion dozen fresh eggs sold.

The milestone marks a new record year of sales for Cal-Maine Foods and the first time any domestic or world egg supplier has surpassed annual sales of more than 1 billion dozen eggs.

ECRM compared retail circular advertising in June 2013 versus June 2014 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains. Both Walmart and Toys “R” Us experienced some extreme shifts versus last year. Toys “R” Us did not run any circulars during the month of June, down from two last year. Instead, it ran only web and email promotions. The inverse occurred in January, when it ran no print ads in 2013 and only a single short circular in 2014.

Coppel, Texas -- The Container Store on Tuesday posted a 0.8% decline in same-store sales in the first quarter, its first decline in the metric in 16 quarters.

“We thought our sluggish sales were all because of weather and calendar shifts that began last November and continued into the spring, but now we’ve come to realize it’s more than weather and calendar. Consistent with so many of our fellow retailers, we are experiencing a retail ‘funk,’” said Kip Tindell, chairman and CEO.

New York - Stuart Weitzman Holdings LLC has named Monica Schwartz as chief global digital and e-commerce officer. In this newly created position, Schwartz will oversee all aspects of global e-commerce and digital strategies for the stuartweitzman.com platforms in the United States, Canada, Europe and Hong Kong, as well as the soon-to-be-launched e-commerce site in China.

Denver – eBags has launched its online Back to School Bag Finder. The e-commerce tool features more than 5,000 backpacks from 100 brands.

The Bag Finder provides consumers with the ability to filter by bag type, color, or customer opinion. Ebags offers 3 million online customer reviews.

There have been more than a few headline-grabbing leadership transitions in the retail world recently. And, to be honest, “transitions” might be too gentle of a euphemism: some big names from some big-name brands have left, been fired, forced out, voted off the board, or otherwise pressured to step down in the last few months.

By Jason Peck, Director of Marketing, Canvas

Business adoption of new technologies often flows from their personal use. This certainly applies to mobile apps and devices. The ability to download an app in seconds, share photos and data via the cloud in real-time, and communicate from any location at any time have evolved from “nice to have” to “need to have.”

By Ryan Ramaker, Acuity Brands

LED lighting is a growing trend in buildings today and with very good reason. It delivers significant energy savings compared to traditional light sources, and the illumination, lifespan and color qualities of LEDs continue to impress.  
   
But there are also additional benefits that are often overlooked. Quality LED illumination can help retailers solve some of the most common retail lighting problems. Here are the top three:

New York -- Crumbs Bake Shops on Monday closed its 48 stores. The cupcake store chain has been struggling for some time. In a May filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, it warned that it "may be forced to curtail or cease its activities" if its operations didn't generate enough cash flow.

Last week, Nasdaq suspended the trading of Crumbs shares on the grounds that the company no longer had at least $2.5 million in shareholder equity, or met benchmarks for an annual net profit.

Atlanta – Following Staples’ expansion of its Staples Connect home and office automation platform to 500 stores, The Home Depot is making Wink-enabled connected home products available for purchase in its nearly 2,000 U.S. stores and online.