News

Bob Mariano, CEO of the Roundy’s Supermarkets Inc. division of The Kroger Co., will retire effective Sept. 1, 2016.   After retiring, Mariano will serve as strategic adviser to Kroger and Roundy's for two years. Don Rosanova, president of Mariano's, and Michael Marx, president of Roundy's Supermarkets Wisconsin, will continue to serve in their current roles leading the two supermarket divisions.  

While Amazon Prime Day got off to a bit of a rocky start, performance appears to be improving as the day goes on.   According to analysis from Clavis Insight, consumer electronics is the most popular category among Prime Day “spotlight deals,” promoted at the top of the page as especially in-demand items. As of 10 a.m. ET Amazon had run 21 spotlight deals, almost half of which were consumer electronics. At the same on the 2015 edition of Prime Day, Amazon had only posted 10 spotlight deals.  

The National Retail Federation (NRF) has been actively campaigning to keep federal caps on debit card swipe fees, and now its constituents are speaking out.  

One day after announcing a general salary increase for all U.S. corporate store employees, Starbucks Corp. is preparing to increase some prices.   As of July 12, Starbucks made what it calls a “small price adjustment” in U.S. company-operated stores. Depending on the market, customers will experience increases of 10 to 20 cents on select sizes of brewed coffee, and 10 to 30 cents on espresso beverages and tea lattes.  

After two years of benefitting from gasoline price tailwinds, still-stressed consumers will generate only a sluggish 3.3% year-over-year increase in this year’s back-to-school sales, according to Customer Growth Partners’ 14th Annual BTS Forecast.    Total BTS sales for the season will reach $540 billion — a new record, but the lackluster 3.3% growth represents a marked slowdown from the 4%-plus BTS growth seen in both 2014 and 2015, when sales were boosted by declining gasoline prices.  

Online checkout problems are indicative of heavy e-commerce traffic, but still were not what Amazon.com hoped to see in the first hours of Prime Day.   According to multiple media reports, a glitch was causing problems for some U.S. and U.K. consumers attempting to check out their Amazon purchases the morning of Tuesday, July 12. Numerous shoppers tweeted their frustrations using hashtags such as #PrimeDay and #PrimeDayFail. A sampling of tweet complaints includes:  

Amazon.com is continuing its aggressive strategy of launching new distribution facilities and physical pickup centers.   The retailer will open a new fulfillment center in Kansas City, Kansas by the end of 2016. The 855,000-sq.-ft. facility, the second large-sized fulfillment center Amazon has announced within a span of four months, will create more than 1,000 full-time roles. In addition to this center and an upcoming facility in Edgerton, Amazon has existing Kansas facilities in Lenexa.  

Newegg.com is expanding its physical footprint, this time in Canada.   The online electronics retailer opens its Hybrid Centre in Richmond Hill, Ontario on Friday, July 15. The facility serves a dual purpose of allowing customers to pick up their will-call orders, as well as browse tech products or attend an educational seminar. Some of the products on display are available exclusively through Newegg, many of which are making their North American debut at the Hybrid Centre.  

Consumers have spoken, and they have a favorite chain when it comes to buying appliance products.  

Walmart’s Lifelong Learning Program is getting a boost from a new partnership with educational technology and services company Cengage Learning.