News

Chicago -- Online grocer Peapod is taking its “virtual grocery store” concept on the road in a new promotional campaign. The company unveiled the concept at commuter rail stations in Chicago and the Northeast less than a year ago,

Peapod, a division of Ahold USA, will field trucks installed with digital billboards of grocery aisles at community recreation centers, coffee sleeves at local cafes, concert venues and other places.  

New York -- Martha Stewart has agreed to reduce her annual base salary by $200,000 to $1.8 million.

Stewart, founder and chairwoman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., also gave the green light to allow the company to reduce her annual licensing fee by $300,000 to $1.7 million, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday.

The cuts, according to company executives, are “consistent with their plan to return ... to profitability.”

MSLO reported a net loss of $3.27 million for the first quarter ended March 31.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens on Wednesday reported June sales of $5.79 billion, an increase of 2.5% from the year-ago period.

Total front-end sales increased 2.2% compared with the same month last year, while comparable store front-end sales increased 0.8%. Customer traffic in comparable stores decreased 2.9%, while basket size increased 3.7%.

Parsippany, N.J. -- Budget Car Rental and Simon Property Group have combined forces to market to Latin American travelers. When these travelers book a Budget car in Boston, Miami, New York City and Orlando, they will receive a shopping voucher that can be redeemed for a package of coupons, discounts and other special offers at Simon destinations in those cities:

Burlington Mall and Wrentham Village Premium Outlets in Boston

Dadeland Mall, The Falls, Miami International Mall and Sawgrass Mills in Miami

Seattle – Nordstrom is expanding a trial of marking the items in its stores that receive the most pins on Pinterest with small “P” logos. As reported by BusinessWeek, Nordstrom is taking the pilot from two to 13 stores.

Nordstrom, which has 4.5 million Pinterest followers, gives store associates access to an online dashboard that notifies which items the store has in stock are most pinned in their geographic area. The pilot is expected to conclude later this month.

Camp Hill, Pa. – Rite Aid reported a slight boost in monthly same-store sales but a decreased in year-to-date same-store sales. For the four weeks ended June 29, 2013, same-store sales increased 0.7% from the prior-year period. June front-end same store sales increased 0.4%, while pharmacy same store sales increased 0.9% despite the negative impact of generics.  

Orlando, Fla. – A new e-commerce site dedicated to products manufactured in America, MadeInTheUSA.com, launches July 4. The site will feature nearly 1 million products made in the U.S. across all major categories.

Warrendale, Pa. -- Rue21 Inc. said Wednesday that the “go-shop” period that would have allowed it to be sold to an alternate buyer has expired, edging the specialty apparel and accessories chain closer to a deal with Apax Partners.
 
In May, Rue21 reached a deal to sell itself to Apax for nearly $1 billion; terms allowed the retailer to shop competing bids until July 2. Although 60 potential buyers were contacted, none submitted a competing bid to acquire the company.
 

James Petty has joined private equity owned Vestis Retail Group as CEO, effective July 8, to drive new growth opportunities.

Petty joins Vestis, parent company of Bob’s Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports, after serving since 2007 as president of retail stores for Carter’s Inc. Petty left Carter’s last December after a restructuring resulted in Carter’s relocating its retail group to its Atlanta headquarters from Connectticut. Prior to Carter’s, Petty held senior roles at Limited Too and Gap, Inc.

CORTE MADERA, Calif. — Restoration Hardware is a company one tends to associate with high-end home furnishings, but the company is expanding into new territory. RH recently launched Hierarchy — an apparel, accessories and footwear brand — and has edited its executive leadership team as a result.