News

Philadelphia – Net sales at Destination Maternity Corp. dropped 5% to $122 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, from $128.3 million the same quarter a year earlier. Same-store sales, including Internet sales, declined 5%.

Net sales declined primarily from the decrease in same-store sales and decreased sales related to the company's continued efforts to close underperforming stores. Sales results were below previously released guidance.

President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Giant Eagle executive chairman David Shapira to the role of governor for the board of governors of the United States Postal Service.
 

By Jeremy Geiger, Retailigence

The headline is bold, but yes, 2014 is the year of hyperlocal mobile advertising, and there are three very important trends converging today to make this happen. The first is smartphone proliferation; according to eMarketer, smartphone users worldwide will total a record-breaking two billion in 2014. Now billions of people around the world have the devices needed to make hyperlocal ads possible.

Walmart is set to announce its 2015 growth priorities next week and in a clear sign of an accelerating Neighborhood Market rollout, the retailer has created a new organizational structure made up of seasoned operators and accomplished merchants.

Scottsdale, Ariz. -- GoDaddy and Spree Commerce announced the launch of the GoDaddy Online Store for small businesses.

With Spree technology supporting the backend, this new GoDaddy offering will make it truly simple for small businesses worldwide to start selling online using e-commerce.

The companies first announced collaboration in February of this year. The GoDaddy Online Store has been available in beta since. More than 5,000 merchants have opened stores and sold millions of dollars of products and services, all over the world.

Fred’s CEO Bruce A. Efird is confident about the company’s initiatives to reposition the convenience-center model, expand marketing and implement new technology — all factors that he expects will help restore growth in the fourth quarter and next year.

Efird added that the initiatives are already producing positive results, despite customer traffic remaining a challenge in the company’s markets.

Retailers have had a tough year when it comes to advertising prices. In January, a California court issued a multimillion dollar penalty against Overstock.com, after determining that the company advertised discounts in a misleading manner. Since then, retailers across a range of industries have been dragged into costly lawsuits and regulatory investigations involving similar issues. If you’re wondering how something as mundane as advertising the price of an item could lead to so much trouble it’s because the issue is more complicated than most people think.

New York -- Target Corp. is enhancing the digital experience for its customers. The company is revamping its existing flagship app (with new versions for both iPhones and iPads) and its Cartwheel coupon app, and is also developing a new app for pharmacy, with rollouts scheduled for later this month. The retailer is also in the middle of updating its gift registry app.