News

Arlington, Va. -- In a letter sent Wednesday, Retail Industry Leaders Association president Sandy Kennedy asked President Obama to take action to prevent a work stoppage at the East and Gulf Coast ports.

Negotiations on Dec. 18 did not produce a resolution between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, foreshadowing a shutdown of the Eastern and Gulf ports by the end of the year.

New York – The Chase Holiday Pulse, released on Wednesday, shows that “Green Week” – from Dec. 10 to Dec. 16 – was the busiest seven-day period of the holiday shopping season in terms of transaction volume this year.  

Online merchants saw high shopping volume – year-over-year sales and transaction for the same period were up 10.7% and 16.6% respectively – throughout the week as consumers acted to utilize free delivery offers before the holidays.

Dublin, Calif. -- Epicor Software Corp. said Wednesday that A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts has selected and implemented the company’s Retail Customer Relationship Management solution to strengthen customer relations and support future loyalty/reward initiatives.

By Brett Conradt, [email protected]

Mobile payments have been growing impressively, but recent estimates suggest they represent less than 1% of total global retail sales. Many retail executives may be wondering whether the technology is worth investing in right now. Before getting into the issues to consider, let’s start with some background.

New York – Jan. 3 promises to be the longest day of the year for UPS employees as they process a record level of returns to retailers.

Burlington, Mass. -- On-demand e-commerce solution-provider Demandware said Wednesday that Pier 1  Imports has delivered the initial phases of its omnichannel strategy, which includes its new e-commerce-enabled Pier1.com website (launched in July 2012), and its mobile commerce site, both of which are run on the Demandware Commerce platform.

Pier 1 Imports now benefits from an enterprise-class, software-as-a-service platform that serves as the digital commerce backbone to connect consumers to its brand regardless of location, device or channel.

Campbell, Calif. -- Product lifecycle management software provider Centric Software said Tuesday that it has become the PLM system provider to Build-A-Bear Workshop.

Build-A-Bear Workshop purchased the Product Specification, Product Sourcing, Calendar Management, Line Planning, Quality Management and Material Management modules of the Centric 8 PLM system. Build-A-Bear Workshop also will implement Centric’s mobile apps and the Enterprise Connectivity module to integrate Centric 8 data with the company’s enterprise resource planning system.

San Bernardino, Calif. -- Regional grocer Stater Bros. Holdings Inc. reported Tuesday that profit for the fourth quarter slid to $5.0 million, compared with $5.6 million in the year-ago period.

Sales in the quarter increased to $957.2 million, from $941.8 million last year.

Walmart’s ongoing investigation into bribery allegations was thrust into the spotlight again on Monday after the New York Times ran a lengthy piece detailing how an elaborate series of payments accelerated construction of a controversial store in Mexico City.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Global work wear brand Dickies has signed a new licensing agreement with R & S Sales Company, a leading developer and marketer of slippers and flip-flops in the U.S.