News

New York -- A Tuesday report by the Wall Street Journal said that Harris Teeter Supermarkets is considering putting itself up for sale.

Citing unnamed sources, WSJ reported that the grocer is working with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. to pursue strategic options.

No one from Harris Teeter has commented yet.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- CBL & Associates Properties has announced the promotions of Gary Roddy to VP collections, Tricia Tweedie to VP billings and Jim Ward to VP branding.

Commenting on the promotions, CBL’s president, Stephen Lebovitz said, “These individuals have established themselves as leaders within CBL in their respective fields and the shopping center industry. We are pleased to recognize their accomplishments and significant contributions to the company with these promotions.”

NEW YORK — New York & Company and actress Eva Mendes announced that they have signed a multi-year agreement to collaborate and create a co-branded seasonal capsule collection available at New York & Company (NY&C) stores nationwide and online beginning fall '13. Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed. The to-be-named label will feature apparel and accessory items inspired by Mendes' own personal style and red carpet looks.

ROSEVILLE, Calif. -- Revionics a leading provider of end-to-end merchandise optimization solutions, has entered into a channel partnership agreement with Supply Nexus, a solutions provider specializing in the design and implementation of multichannel distribution and supply chain management solutions. This channel partnership will offer the Spain and Portugal retail markets Revionics end-to-end merchandise optimization solutions.

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Amazon has extended its domination of e-retail into the mobile platform, according to the ForeSee Mobile Satisfaction Index: Holiday Retail Edition, released on Tuesday by ForeSee.

In a survey of more than 6,200 consumers collected during the peak holiday shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Amazon scored highest among 25 of the top mobile commerce companies.

The year started on a positive note with increases in both number of flyers and pages released to market. More than half of the retailers (56%) maintained previous levels or showed an increase in size of their circulars in January 2013. In addition, the number of inserts per market also showed an increase with almost half (44%) of the advertisers showing a rise in flyer drops for this month. Overall, the number of pages increased slightly (+3.1%), and the number of flyers rose (+8.4%) compared to last year.

Chicago -- A new Symphony Consulting survey found that the new 2% increase in payroll tax is causing a major shopping behavioral change among lower-income families.

A division of SymphonyIRI Group, Symphony Consulting revealed Monday that dollar stores may be the biggest winners in the battle for the lower-income spenders’ purchasing power.

NEW YORK — With Toy Fair happening now in New York City, the Toy Industry Association has revealed what it believes are the top toy trends for 2013.