Data & Analytics

Product lifecyle and reverse logistics leader Genco has appointed Jeremy Witte as chief operating officer for its wholly owned subsidiary, Genco Marketplace.

Hhgregg president and CEO Dennis May said severe weather was one of the main factors that hampered the company’s results in the fourth quarter.

The company, which pre-released its fourth-quarter results a little more than a month ago, reported a net loss of $7.2 billion in the quarter, compared to net income of $9.9 million in the same period the prior fiscal year. Net sales dropped 10% to $538.3 million, from $597.6 million.

Store closures and weak demand for traditional office supplies and computers hurt Staples in the first quarter of fiscal 2014.

The company attributed a 44% drop in net earnings during the quarter to lower sales caused by store closures and a rise in the value of the dollar. But according to reports, the office products company and second largest internet retailer in the United States is facing stiff competition from big box retailers such as Walmart and e-commerce giants such as Amazon.

PayAnywhere, a professional grade mobile point-of-sale solution from North American Bancard, has released PayAnywhere Storefront, its free touchscreen tablet and stand with built-in credit card reader. PayAnywhere Storefront provides new simple pricing, security protection and advanced business analytics.

Dick’s Sporting Goods reported healthy net income and increased e-commerce penetration in the first quarter despite experiencing significant challenges in the golf and hunting categories.

Net income increased 8% to $69.98 million from $64.82 million. Net sales increased 8% to $1.44 billion from $1.33 billion while sames store sales at Dick's store increase 2.3% but declined 10.4% and Golf Galaxy locations. The company anticipates an increase of 1.3% in same-store sales for both the second quarter and full fiscal year.

Gainesville, Fla. — Bass Pro Shops has announced plans for a new store in Gainesville, Florida. Slated to open in 2016, the planned 80,000-sq.-ft. store will anchor Celebration Pointe, a one-million-sq.-ft. mixed-use development that will include retail, restaurants, entertainment, a hotel and residential units. The property lies in the northwest quadrant of Interstate 75 and Archer Road.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. cut the compensation of former CEO Gregg Steinhafel to $13 million in fiscal 2013 from $20.6 million in fiscal 2012. According to a regulatory filing, Target decided to reduce Steinhafel’s total compensation after holding meetings and calls with shareholders owning 40% of total company shares and two proxy advisory firms.

San Jose, Calif. – Brick-and-mortar retail sales fell 8.8% from January to April 2014 compared to the same period a year earlier. RetailNext analysis of almost 59 million specialty and larger format retail stores within the continental U.S. also shows that store traffic fell 8.2%.

Other findings include that brick-and-mortar transactions fell 9.2%, and, sales per store slipped 0.8%. However, two positive developments were an average transaction value increase of 0.5% and a 0.81% decrease in returns.

Wallingford, Conn. - Robert Price, former senior VP and chief marketing officer for CVS/pharmacy, has been named president of Edible Arrangements LLC. At CVS/pharmacy, Price led all marketing, advertising, sales promotion, e-commerce, customer insights, store design and customer loyalty programs.

Prior to CVS/pharmacy, Price's held positions with Wawa Food Markets; H-E-B Grocery Stores; Imasco Limited (the former parent company of Hardees and Roy Rogers Restaurants); and The Monitor Company, a strategy consulting firm.

Kansas City, Mo. - Healthy options are becoming increasingly important to customers of quick-service restaurants (QSRs). These latest trends are detailed in a new white paper, "QSRs and America's Changing Tastes," by Sullivan Higdon & Sink (SHS) FoodThink.

Key takeaways from this white paper by SHS FoodThink that hint at a desire for more from QSRs:

• Forty-eight percent of consumers want more opportunities to customize orders.

• Fifty-one percent want QSRs to give them more options for sides.