Data & Analytics

Richmond, Va. -- An annual seasonal hiring survey released Thursday by Snagajob indicates that more holiday jobs will be available this year than have been expected in any previous season in the study’s five-year history.  


The survey of more than 1,000 hourly hiring managers with responsibility for seasonal hiring, conducted by IPSOS Public Affairs for Snagajob, included the following highlights:

New York -- Enterprise business solution-provider Jesta I.S. Inc. said Thursday that Sterling Shoes, a division of Toronto-based Town Shoes, has gone live with its Vision Store and Vision Merchandising software.
 
Town Shoes completed the acquisition of 69 Sterling Shoes stores in April 2012 and immediately launched the selection process for POS and merchandising software solutions that could be implemented by Labor Day weekend.

Minneapolis -- Supervalu on Thursday announced the appointment of Kathy Persian as senior VP and chief information officer of the company.  

Persian joined Supervalu in 2010 as group VP retail and merchandising systems, and later moved to group VP corporate planning, analysis and business process.

She replaces Wayne Shurts, who resigned to accept a position with another company.

Prior to Supervalu, Persian served as senior VP international business process and operations for Best Buy Co.

Union, N.J. -- Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended Aug. 25 dipped 2.2% to $224.3 million, from $229.4 million in the same period last year. Results, negatively impacted by aggressive coupon discounting, trailed Wall Street’s expectations.

Sales increased 12.1% to $2.593 billion, and same-store sales climbed 3.5%, compared with an increase of 5.6% last year.

The retailer acquired Cost Plus in July for $495 million, adding 259 stores and a new e-commerce platform.

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid Corp. reported Thursday a loss of $41.4 million in the second quarter, significantly narrowed from a $94.7 million loss in the year-ago period.

Revenue slipped to $6.23 billion from $6.27 billion last year, missing Wall Street’s projected $6.25 billion in sales. Same-store sales were essentially flat for the quarter.

Naperville, Ill. -- OfficeMax Inc. announced Thursday a new search engine on Officemax.com designed to speed up shopping and provide more accurate search and recommendation results.

In its first month with the new search engine, OfficeMax said that OfficeMax.com has already experienced an increase in conversion rate and customer satisfaction around site navigation, and more than a 60% increase in average revenue per visit.

Premium adult beverage maker Diageo received the Carbon Disclosure Project’s top distinction for its efforts in the area of climate change strategy, emissions disclosure and performance.

SINGAPORE and ATLANTA — RedPrairie, a global supply chain and retail technology provider, announced that Adidas, a global leader in state-of-the-art sports footwear, apparel and accessories, has gone live with RedPrairie Workforce Management (WFM) at its Singapore retail locations. Adidas will leverage RedPrairie WFM to increase employee productivity and optimize scheduling to help adidas deliver optimal customer service to Singapore consumers.

Total home improvement dollars increased by 7% when comparing the 12 months ended July 2012 with the previous 12 months, according to consumer research from The NPD Group.

The units of home improvement items sold grew less than 2%, according to the Port Washington, N.Y.-based research firm.

Much of the unit growth in the home improvement industry was driven by hand tools, the second largest segment based on unit sales after storage and organization. Hand tools saw an 8% increase in units between August 2011 and July 2012.

NEW YORK — While holiday retail sales will remain flat or only slightly up from last year, emerging consumer buying trends will have significant implications for retailers, according to a new survey from Booz & Co.