Data & Analytics

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Lowe’s announced that it is celebrating Earth Day by giving away trees. On April 23, Lowe’s, in partnership with American Forests, will give away one million tree saplings to customers during in-store Earth Day celebrations nationwide. When planted, these one million trees will eventually produce more than 260,000,000 pounds of oxygen annually, providing air for more than 670,000 people for one year, according to the company.

Target began its in-store recycling program just nine months ago, and some of the early numbers from the program are staggering. Between April 2010, when the program was launched, and December 2010, the company collected and recycled more than 170 million shopping bags and more than 1.4 million pounds of cans and bottles. In addition, the company said it collected roughly two million units of small electronic items such as MP3 players and cell phones.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores said Monday it is acquiring Mountain View, Calif.-based social media company Kosmix to help strengthen its social and mobile commerce.
 
Wal-Mart, which has not disclosed the terms of the transaction, said it is interested in a social media technology platform Kosmix has developed that filters and organizes content in social networks to connect people with information that may be of interest to them.

Atlanta -- A report released Monday by First Data Corp., which tracks year-over-year same-merchant activations, redemptions and reloads of merchant-branded prepaid cards in the United States, including spending, gift, incentive and promotional cards, revealed that delayed post-holiday redemptions and incentives drove activations in first quarter 2011.

When it comes to speed and accuracy, helpfulness and courtesy, knowledge and personal service, the pharmacy at Walmart ranked dead last in a survey of Consumers Reports subscribers that appears in the May issue of the publication.

ABILENE, Kan. -- Duckwall-ALCO Stores reported that net sales from continuing operations for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 increased 4.4% to $136.9 million and same-store sales, excluding fuel center sales, increased 1.8%, compared with the same period in the prior fiscal year. Net sales from continuing operations for the fiscal year decreased 0.6% to $465.2 million and same-store sales decreased 2.4%, compared with the same period in the prior fiscal year.

COMMERCE, Calif.  -- Even with an extra week in this year's reporting period, 99 Cents Only Stores reported a total sales increase for it fiscal fourth quarter. The company reported total sales of $378.5 million for the 14-week fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 ended April 2, 2011, compared with $339.3 million for the 13-week fourth quarter in the prior fiscal year. 

The company reported a same-store sales increase of 0.5% for the quarter. Excluding Texas operations, comps were up 0.7%.

By John Haber, [email protected]

For the past two months, consumers have paid higher gas prices as a result of the political unrest in the Mideast. But, consumers aren’t the only ones feeling a pinch. Retailers are feeling it too as many suppliers, manufacturers and distributors implement “emergency fuel surcharges” as reported by The Wall Street Journal in late March of this year.

PLEASANTON, Calif. -- Safeway announced that it has been named the most sustainable national U.S. grocer for seafood by Greenpeace. Greenpeace's retailer scorecard ranks the top 20 grocery retailers on the sustainability of their seafood practices.

The "Carting Away the Oceans" report and scorecard, released on April 11, rates retailers' existing seafood policies, initiatives, product labeling/dissemination of information about products, and practices surrounding the sale of certain unsustainable or "red list" species.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Supervalu reported net sales of $8.7 billion for the fiscal 2011 fourth quarter, compared with sales of $9.2 billion for the same period last year. Supervalu's fourth-quarter net earnings were $95 million, or 44 cents per diluted share, compared with net earning of $97 million, or 46 cents per diluted share the company reported last year.