Data & Analytics

Staten Island, N.Y. -- Women’s apparel retailer Cato has made its debut into the world of online shopping with the launch of its first ever e-commerce site. With the help of its implementation partner Celerant Technology, the new website will support the growth of the brand and will offer the same collections as its brick-and-mortar stores, as well as additional sizes, colors and exclusive items.

The search is on for a new president and COO at Family Dollar following the resignation of Michael Bloom amid deteriorating financial results and a 3% same store sales decline in December.

Atlanta -- Landscaping is the most popular outdoor do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvement New Year’s resolution project. According to a recent online survey of 540 homeowners by the Home Projects Council (HPC), homeowners selected landscaping (15.2%), planting a garden (13.5%) and building a deck (6.3%) as the top three outdoor DIY home improvement New Year’s resolution projects.

Philadelphia -- Net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 at Destination Maternity Corporation decreased 0.3% to $134.8 million from $135.3 million reported for the first quarter of fiscal 2013. Same-store sales slightly increased 0.7%.

Women’s apparel retailer Cato has made its debut into the world of online shopping with the launch of its first ever e-commerce site. The announcement came as the retailer reported holiday sales for the five-week period ended Jan. 4.
 
Founded in 1946, Cato operates approximately 1,100 apparel and accessories specialty stores throughout the United States. With so many brick-and-mortar locations, the ability to supplement in-store inventory with an e-commerce strategy geared toward a new generation of connected shoppers became crucial for continued growth.

Philadelphia – Net sales at Urban Outfitters for the two months ended Dec. 31, 2013, increased to $716 million, or 8% from the same period in the previous year. Same-store retail segment net sales, which include the direct-to-consumer channel, increased 3%.

Same-store retail segment net sales increased 21% at Free People and 11% at Anthropologie and decreased 6% at Urban Outfitters. Wholesale segment net sales increased 21%.

David Glass has kept such a low public profile since stepping down as Walmart president and CEO it was surprising to see his name pop up as the featured speaker at an upcoming event in Northwest Arkansas.

Glass stepped down as CEO of Walmart nearly 15 years ago and he’s scarcely been heard from since, leaving those newer to the company to know him largely as the guy after whom the company’s massive information technology building is named.

Saratoga Springs, N.Y. -- Stewart’s Shops, a chain of 300 convenience stores offering gasoline and fresh and local dairy products and ice cream, has deployed Paragon Software’s Single Depot solution to automate the planning of daily and seasonal deliveries. Paragon’s software automates the manual process of planning and scheduling deliveries to the retail outlets, lowering mileage, reducing fuel usage, and improving truckload efficiencies.