News

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Olive Garden has begun the the roll out of a new restaurant remodel design and logo. The company, a division of Darden Restaurants Inc., is also launching an updated web experience and an online to-go platform for desktop and mobile computer users at all its U.S. restaurants.

Fresh & Easy is bringing back its Shop for Schools fundraising program with some notable improvements. Powered by the national fundraising program eScrip, it will kick off in time for the start of the 2014/2015 school year.

6pm.com, the sister site of Zappos.com, which is owned by Amazon, is launching its first-ever live streaming fashion show and inviting the public to share via social media outfits inspired by the brand's top six summer trends: seaside sorbet, nautical by nature, athletic luxe, neutral notes, feminine flair and metallic madness.

The top 10 submitted looks will be featured in the Style by 6pm.com Summer Fashion Show, with winners receiving a $250 6pm.com e-gift card.

After two years in Android and Apple app stores, coupon website RetailMeNot is planning to make deals more personalized for users, which could have a big impact on retailers’ bottom lines.

The website and app offers coupons and deals to customers based on their location and stores and restaurants that they’ve favorited. Now, with more than 18 million downloads of the mobile app and a June launch of a tablet app, RetailMeNot is planning to expand its capabilities to allow retailers to use the app as a tool for reaching new customers.

Minneapolis -- Free standing Insert (FSI) coupon activity increased 3.4% t based on coupons dropped during the first six months of 2014 versus the year ago period, according to Marx, a Kantar Media solution. Coupons dropped within non-food categories increased 8.2% to represent 65% of the 158 billion FSI coupons distributed during this period.
 

Chicago -- High-income consumers think warehouse club products are on a par with leading brands, according to new research from Mintel. Indeed, 38% believe store brand or private label brands at warehouse clubs are comparable to name brand items in terms of quality — a number that increases to 44% of households earning $150K+. That's the highest percentage of all income groups surveyed, compared to 27% of those earning less than $25K, 36% of those earning $50-$74.9K and 41% of those with incomes between $100-$149.9K.  

Supervalu has begun supplying the first of 18 Rainbow stores that are being acquired as part of the transactions that were announced May 7 between Roundy’s and a consortium of Supervalu and independent retailers.

Following the store conversions, Supervalu will supply all 18 of the acquired stores out of its Hopkins, Minn., distribution center.
 

Tractor Supply is scheduled to provide complete second-quarter results in just under two weeks. But the first half of the quarter was affected by bad weather, which caused softness in sales, particularly in seasonal merchandise, prompting the company to lower its full-year guidance.