News

PwC: Retail and consumer mega deals hits seven year high in Q3
New York -- Retail and consumer merger and acquisition activity in the United States during the third quarter of 2014 was driven by the highest volume of mega deals (deals with a value of over $1 billion) in at least seven years, leading to overall transaction value jumping significantly during the quarter when compared to the year ago period, according to PwC’s U.S. retail and consumer deals insights Q3 2014 report.
General Mills makes healthy board addition
General Mills has elected David M. Cordani to its board of directors. Cordani, 48, is a president and CEO of Cigna Corporation, a global health insurance and health services company.

Cordani joined Cigna in 1991 and has held a variety of finance and operating positions, including CEO for CIGNA Healthcare and president and CEO for Cigna Corporation.

IDC Retail Insights: Top 10 retail predictions for 2015

Framingham, Mass. -- By 2017, three times as many retailers as now will explicitly underpin their customer and operations strategies on 3rd platform technologies. That’s one of IDC Retail Insights’ top 10 worldwide retail predictions for 2015. IDC revealed the predictions during a Web conference, IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Retail Agenda 2015 Predictions.
Office Depot beats estimates; raises full-year outlook

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot on Tuesday reported better-than-expected results for third quarter and raised its outlook for the year. The retailer posted a profit of $29 million for the third quarter compared with $133 million in the year-ago quarter. The previous-year quarter included a gain on the sale of the Office Depot de Mexico joint venture. Sales grew 55% to $4.07 billion, fueled by the addition of OfficeMax.
RetailROI Offers At-Risk Kids Necessities and Hope

Industry uses strengths to aid children in need

Modern retail is a global effort to provide consumers with the goods and services they need.
Alibaba net income drops in Q3

Hangzhou, China –- Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. reported net income of $494 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014, down 39% from $803 million in the same quarter the prior year. Items including share-based compensation expense and the amortization of intangible assets helped drive down net income.
Merger magic evident at Office Depot

Sales continued to decline at Office Depot in the third quarter, but CEO Roland Smith said excellent execution allowed operating profits to more than double.

Total company sales on a pro-forma basis to reflect the merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax declined 3% to $4.1 billion during the period ended Sept. 27. The top line decline was steeper at the company’s 1,851 unit North American retail division where sales declined 7% to $1.7 billion due to store closures and a 3% same store sales decline driven by a reduced transaction volume.
RetailROI Rallies Retail Industry to Combat Ebola

Responding to the Ebola virus that has ravaged West Africa, RetailROI has launched a major campaign to help fight the disease in Liberia. Working with its partner charities operating in Liberia, including More Than Me and Love In Action, the #RetailFightsEbola campaign is rallying retailers, manufacturers and individuals to provide much-needed medical and hygienic supplies to Liberia.
RetailROI’s goals are two-fold:
Survey: Consumers find disconnects in online, physical retailing

Atlanta -- Although 83% of consumers say most of their shopping takes place in-store, they still report a variety of disconnects between the in-store and online retail experience. According to a survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers from electronic shelf label (ESL) technology vendor DisplayData, 44% of U.S. consumers think retailers offer different prices online and offline.
Generic utilization lifts CVS Health in Q3

Tailwinds from specialty pharmacy and increased generic utilization lifted CVS Health up on Tuesday, as the company posted net revenues of $35 billion, representing an increase of 9.7% for the three months ended Sept. 30.