News

Milestone for Papa John’s as digital, mobile channels account for 50% of sales
LOUISVILLE, Ky.- Papa John’s International has reached a milestone: The chain announced that digital and mobile channels account for more than 50% of its total U.S. sales (delivery and carryout), making it the first in the industry to surpass this milestone.
JDA Software launches innovation lab
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona - JDA Software announced the creation of JDA Labs – a research and development group assembled to drive game-changing innovation. This global team, headquartered in Montreal, will innovate new and existing products and deliver patents, best practices and entirely new products to the market. JDA Labs currently is driving research and innovation around three key areas: data science, user experience and product innovation.

Study: Customers less satisfied in Q3

Ann Arbor, Mich. – Rolling Stones fans will sympathize with the devilish problem facing American customers, who couldn’t get satisfaction in the third quarter of 2014. The national level of customer satisfaction fell 0.7% in the third quarter of 2014 to 75.6 on a 100-point scale, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), pointing to weak spending growth for the fourth quarter.
Pep Boy’s advances as CEO search continues

As gas prices decline and American’s drive more, Pep Boy should be in a position to benefit from a resulting demand for automotive maintenance with its unique parts and service model.
Deeper Dive: Customer engagement at Guildford Town Centre

New York - Customer engagement is becoming an ever trickier proposition. Thanks to increasing connectivity and functionality of mobile and wearable devices, today’s consumers can enter an intensely personalized, stimulating and informationally rich virtual environment at a moment’s notice. Enticing them with omnichannel promotions is no easy task.
Easy credit proves costly at Conn’s

A nightmare scenario unfolded at Conn’s this week when the company disclosed a huge third quarter loss, the departure of its CFO and withdrew guidance for the coming year amid disturbing delinquency trends in its credit card receivables portfolio.
Abercrombie CEO Michael Jeffries out

New York - In an abrupt move, Michael Jefferies, the longtime and often controversial chief of Abercrombie & Fitch, has retired as CEO and stepped down from the company’s board, effective immediately. His retirement caught the industry by surprise, particularly since it comes in the middle of the crucial holiday selling season.
A special gift awaits investors in The Buckle

Plenty of retailers talk about returning cash to shareholders, but none does so as aggressively as The Buckle which just announced a whopper of a special dividend.

The Kearney, Neb.-based operator of 463 stores said it would pay a $2.77 special dividend in addition to its regular quarterly dividend of 23 cents on Jan. 27 to shareholders of record on Jan. 15. It is the seventh consecutive year the debt-free specialty retailer of young men’s and women’s apparel has paid a special dividend on top of its quarterly payout.
Burlington Stores Q3 loss grown

Florence, N.J. – Burlington Stores Inc. increased its net loss to $34.21 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 from $16.86 million in the same period a year earlier amid increased expenses net loss. By the end of fiscal 2014, Burlington Stores expects to have opened 24 new stores and closed two stores, for a total store count of 543.
Pantry beats Street with Q4 profit, misses on revenue

Cary, N.C. – The Pantry Inc. beat Wall Street expectations with net income but missed on revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. Net income dramatically shot up to $14.7 million from $1 million in the same period a year earlier, aided by costs and expenses that remained level or dropped. Revenue fell 3% to $1.95 billion from $2.02 billion, with declining fuel sales offsetting rising merchandising sales.