News

Lenexa, Kan. - Only about four-in-10 (39%) of consumers are "very confident" that using a credit or debit card was safe. Half (49%) of consumers surveyed were only "somewhat confident." In light of the mass retail payment security breaches in recent months, Balance Innovations surveyed shoppers about their confidence in using credit and debit cards at their primary grocery store and whether they have changed their payment methods in response.

Supervalu directors Mark Neporent and Lenard Tessler have stepped down from the company’s board of directors as a result of Cerberus-owned Albertsons’ deal to acquire Safeway.

Neporent and Tessler were both appointed to the Supervalu board in 2013 as designees of Symphony Investors, a Cerberus Capital Management L.P.-led investor consortium. Symphony Investors owns approximately 20.9% of Supervalu’s outstanding common stock, and has the right to designate replacement directors for Neporent and Tessler.

New York – Foot Locker Inc. increased net income 16% to $121 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 from the same period the prior year. Net sales grew 5% to $1.79 billion, from $1.71 billion.

Same-store sales for the quarter grew 5.3%. Looking ahead, the retailer expects to improve same-store sales in the mid-single digits and improve earnings per share by a double-digit percentage in fiscal 2014. Fourth quarter sales and earnings results both beat Wall Street estimates.

Charles W. H. Matthaei, chairman at Roman Meal Company, died Feb. 26. Matthaei headed the family-owned company for nearly 70 years.

Plano, Texas – Pizza Hut is planning to pilot interactive tables that allow customers to design their pizzas using a touch-screen table surface that graphically displays different menu options like a tablet. In a short online video, Pizza Hut shows a couple interacting with a tabletop to pick their pizza’s size and ingredients.

Severe weather that persisted during the year’s shortest month affected Gap’s February sales results. 

The company reported net sales for the four-week period ended March 1 of $929 million, compared with net sales of $966 million for the four-week period ended March 2, 2013. Comparable-store sales for the month declained 7%, versus last year’s 3% increase.

“While February was clearly a difficult month, we remain focused on executing our global priorities,” said chairman and CEO Glenn Murphy.

San Francisco -- Shopper activity cooled off in February 2014 as a result of extremely cold weather across the country. According to in-store retail analytics provider Euclid, analysis of data from tens of millions of domestic shopping sessions indicates that general merchandise, apparel, furniture and other (GAFO) retail sales grew by a modest 0.7% year-over-year.

Target’s database breach in December 2013 not only affected the retailer’s fourth quarter comparable store sales, but also contributed to plummeting shopper penetration post-holiday.

Kantar Retail ShopperScape data indicates that just 33% of U.S. households reported shopping at Target or SuperTarget during January 2014, the lowest penetration number for Target in the past three years, and a 22% decrease in penetration compared to January 2013.