News

New York – While attitudes haven't changed overwhelmingly since December 2013, some shifts in plans for the next six months may indicate that Americans are questioning their financial prospects during the next few months, according to a new Harris Poll. The survey of 2,234 U.S. adults shows that Americans are more likely than in December to say that they plan on decreasing their spending on eating out at restaurants (59%, up four points) within the next six months.

Cincinnati – The Kroger Co. is collaborating with EInfochips and Wincor-Nixdorf to introduce a new enterprise IT architecture called Retail Site Intelligence (RSI). This store uses ZigBee wireless mesh networks to integrate long battery life sensors, handheld devices, point-of-sale devices and video management software into a next-generation platform for retail applications such as loss prevention, store automation and analytics.

Houston -- Cardtronics, the world’s largest retail ATM owner, has extended its ATM services agreement with Walgreens. Cardtronics is a preferred provider of ATM services for Walgreens. Since the relationship began in 2004, Cardtronics has grown its ATM presence in Walgreens locations significantly — from fewer than 400 initially to roughly 3,250 today.

Sunnyvale, Calif. – Application support and maintenance (ASM) may hold potential to deliver $6.8 billion in savings to Fortune 2000 organizations. According to a survey of 300 U.S. and U.K. CIOs released by IT services provider HCL Technologies Ltd., ASM now accounts for 38% of large organizations’ overall IT budget each year.

Los Angeles – An electronic musician reportedly planted 5,000 copies of his own CD inside fake copies of the Justin Bieber “Believe” CD in retailers including Best Buy, Target and Wal-Mart on April 1. According to the Associated Press, the musician, Paz Dylan, said he saw the stunt as more of a performance art piece than an April Fools’ Day prank.

Paris -- Shopmium, the new brand discovery app, has officially launched in the U.S. on both iOS and Android platforms. Shopmium’s model enables advertisers to promote products through a targeted media approach that delivers mobile brand experiences and discount offers to users.
 

Lille, France – French home improvement retailer Leroy Merlin, a banner of Adeo Group, will install Pricer's electronic shelf label (ESL) system in all of its 121 stores by the end of 2015. Thirty -five store installations are planned for 2014 and the remainder during 2015.

The project value is estimated at more than $20 million. Leroy Merlin will roll out a mix of Pricer's economical segment-based ESLs along with featured graphic E-Paper-based labels throughout its stores.

Shelton, Conn. – Nxt-ID Inc. intends to launch a smart wallet called Wocket. A biometrically secure smart wallet with a smart card that is immediately zeroized after each transaction, Wocket is designed to be useless to a thief.

By Mike Rozembajgier, VP, Stericycle

Hazardous waste management for retailers and retail pharmacies has entered a critical new phase that may change the rules governing what is considered waste and how to properly dispose of it.

Talk of nearshoring and a resurgent U.S. manufacturing sector weren’t enough to help the Stanley Furniture Company avoid shuttering a domestic manufacturing plant that employs 400 people.

Following steep losses last year, Stanley said it would close its 562,000-sq.-ft. facility in Robbinsville, NC., where ironically enough the company’s Young America line of Juvenile furniture was manufactured.