News

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Sears Holdings Corp. is selling most of its 51% stake in its Sears Canada division to shareholders as its looks to boost its liquidity before the crucial holiday selling season. Sears, which previously said it was exploring options for the struggling Sears Canada unit and retained Bank of America Merrill Lynch in May 2014, expects to raise as much as $380 million by November 2014. 

Lay's has issued a last call for votes in its "Do Us a Flavor" contest. Since July 28, consumers have been putting the four finalist flavors — Lay's Cappuccino, Lay's Cheddar Bacon Mac & Cheese, Lay's Kettle Cooked Wasabi Ginger and Lay's Wavy Mango Salsa — to a nationwide taste test.

Chosen from more than 14.4 million fan submissions gathered between January 13 and April 5, fan votes will decide which of the four finalist flavors should be named the winner and remain on store shelves after the contest ends.

The Bon-Ton board of directors has added Beth Grumbacher, daughter of board chairman and strategic initiatives officer Tim Grumbacher, to its ranks, expanding the number of members to 10.

Groupon has unveiled a free app that pays people cash for buying featured grocery and consumer-packaged goods items each week at any supermarket or retailer in the United States and Canada called Snap.

Android and iPhone users can now earn money when they buy an item listed in the app and take a picture of their receipt. To mark Snap’s debut, people who download the app and use it to submit any grocery receipt through Nov. 11 can enter a sweepstakes to win a year of free groceries for an entire family, a value of $13,000.

Scandit, a developer of software-based barcode scanning technology for smartphones, tablets and wearable devices, has released an integrated suite of mobile apps that aims to enhance the consumer shopping experience and retail operations.

Scandit’s Mobile App Suite for Retail provides a series of fully customizable, cross-platform mobile applications for retail employees and customers including: Clienteling, Mobile Point of Sale (mPOS), Mobile Shopping (mShopping), Self-Checkout, Shopping Lists and Procurement.
 

Vantiv, a leading provider of payment processing services and related technology for merchants and financial institutions, has appointed Larry Drury as its chief marketing officer. Drury will report directly to CEO Charles Drucker.

Rite Aid reported $2 billion in sales for the four weeks ended Sept. 27, representing a 4.5% increase over the comparable year-ago period.
 
Same-store sales increased 5.1% over the prior-year period, including a 2.3% lift in front-end same-store sales and growth of 6.3% in pharmacy comparable sales. Pharmacy same-store sales included an approximate 225 basis points negative impact from new generic introductions. Prescription count at comparable stores increased 4.4% over the prior-year period.
 

As part of PepsiCo’s efforts to help drive the U.S. beverage container recycling rate to 50% by 2018, the company is now opening its K-12 school Recycle Rally program to schools across the country.

Walmart this week launched a new “click and collect” grocery concept in Bentonville, Ark. Hometown media outlet City Wire was on hand for the grand opening and evaluated the service by ordering a few items. Click here to read the report.
 

 

Walgreens has partnered with WebMD Health for an initiative to help improve health and wellness in America by helping and incenting consumers to make healthier choices at home, work and on-the-go.