News

By Bruce Jones

The 2012 holiday shopping season featured stores opening earlier on Thanksgiving, extended hours shopping marathons, and, according to the National Retail Federation, an additional 585,000 to 625,000 seasonal retail workers.

The first indication that something big was brewing with Walmart on the domestic sourcing front came last week.

That’s when Walmart announced internally at that SVP of home, Michelle Gloeckler, would assume additional responsibilities for a new U.S. sourcing and manufacturing initiative. Reporting to Gloeckler is Greg Hall who was named vp of U.S. sourcing and manufacturing after previously serving as vp of marketing for Walmart.com.

JACKSON, Miss. — Cal-Maine Foods, the nation’s largest egg producer, has elevated two operations executives. Kevin Lastowski and Chris Myers have both been promoted to VP of operations.

DENVER — Things may not be working out for Tim Tebow as a Jets quarterback, but he’s got something to fall back on. His foundation has entered into a third-year, multifaceted agreement with national furniture retailer Furniture Row Companies.

San Francisco -- Williams-Sonoma reported that its revenue increased 4.8% to $1.01 billion for the nine-week period ended Dec.30.The company also backed its fourth-quarter and full-year forecast.

Williams-Sonoma will discuss its performance in more detail in March when it releases its fourth quarter results.

Company president and CEO Laura Alber said the chain's performance reflected the strength of its brands even amid a time of consumer uncertainty and intense promotional activity across the retail industry.

By TJ Person, [email protected]

Using a smartphone for everyday transactions is becoming commonplace, with an estimated 86 million Americans using their smartphone to shop every day. They use it to pay; they use it for specials; and they use it to redeem coupons.  

Philadelphia — Specialty value retailer Five Below's fourth quarter total sales for the period from October 28, 2012 through January 12, 2013 increased 34% to $158.5 million, while comparable store sales for the same period increased 4.2%.
 
Five Below has proposed a secondary offering of 7,000,000 shares of its common stock, amid reports that sales are not as bad as originally feared.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Leading global workwear maker Dickies has announced plans to expand its occupational wear division’s product offerings as well as their geographical availability.

Beginning this month, Dickies will have head-to-toe uniform apparel for men, women and juniors in the food service, hospitality and healthcare industries. Dickies' occupational wear division, which   provides uniform apparel for customers in the United States, will now provide them for customers across Canada. 

ISELIN, N.J. — The American Diabetes Association has made Domino Foods, maker of Domino Light and C&H Light All Natural Sugar and Stevia blends, its national strategic partner.

TAMPA, Fla. — Sterling Payment Technologies, a leading national payment processor, has appointed Jeffrey Akeson to executive director of third party/ISO sales.  

Sterling Payment Technologies is a customer-focused payment processor which provides merchants with a complete range of electronic payment services, including credit, debit, PIN debit, fleet, gift card and proprietary rewards and loyalty programs. The company combines POS technology and value-added merchant solutions.