Omnichannel

British retailer Marks & Spencer takes a giant leap forward in its goal to becoming a multichannel leader with the opening of its new concept store in Amsterdam.

NEW YORK — Foot Locker has posted the best quarterly profit results in its history for the first quarter ended May 4. The company's net income for the quarter was $138 million, a 10% increased from $128 million for the same period last year.  

The New York-based specialty athletic retailer's first quarter comparable store sales increased 5.2%.

Dallas -- Alliance Data Systems Corp., a provider of loyalty and marketing solutions derived from transaction-rich data announced its retail services business has signed a multi-year agreement to provide private label credit card services for multichannel computer and electronics retailer TigerDirect, a subsidiary of Systemax, Inc.   

How does a company whose strengths are more on the creative and design side than the technology side achieve strategic agility through the use of IT? According to Michael Relich, executive VP and CIO of vertical apparel retailer Guess, a flexible approach that focuses more on solving business problems than on meeting technical specifications goes a long way toward getting the most business value from your IT investments.

Miami -- Burger King Worldwide announced Thursday that it has expanded its meal delivery program to include Las Vegas and Sacramento, Calif.

The BK Delivers program, which currently delivers meals to homes and offices in New York, Miami, Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., will now have six participating restaurants in Sacramento and eight more in Las Vegas implementing the service.

MINNEAPOLIS — Colder weather and more conservative shoppers contributed to a drop in Target's first quarter 2013 profits, but the company's underlying business remains healthy, executives said Wednesday morning in a conference call with investors.

"While we are not satisfied with this quarter's performance, we remain highly confident in our strategy," president, chairman and CEO Gregg Steinhafel said during the call.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Staples was hurt by a stronger dollar and weak same-store sales in North America and Europe. 

The office products company reported that its first-quarter profit for the period ended May 4 was $169.9 million, down from $187.1 million in the year-ago period. Its results missed Wall Street forecasts.

Total sales fell 3.5% to $5.81 billion, also falling short of estimates. In North America, same-store sales were down 2% on weak demand for computers, software and technology accessories.

REDLANDS, Calif. -- Esri announces that Carrefour Group, the second-largest retailer in the world with nearly 10,000 stores around the globe, has implemented an enterprise-wide marketing solution from Esri partner Galigeo.