News

Online prices are now part of Target’s "low price promise" following an adjustment to the three year old price matching program.

Redwood Shores, Calif. -- American Apparel, which launched a new Oracle e-commerce platform in the fall, has continued to deliver an increase in e-commerce sales, with a more than 38% increase over the same period last year. December 2012 sales increased more than 59% over December 2011, with December coming in as the highest sales month in the history of the company’s online business.

Just when things seem to be looking up for Sears Holdings, chairman Edward Lampert will assume the additional responsibilities of CEO following the revelation that current chief executive Lou D’Ambrosio will leave the company for family medical reasons.

News of D’Amrosio’s departure comes as the Sears Holdings preannounced improved profitability for the fist nine weeks of the fourth quarter and fiscal year ending February 2, D’Amrosio’s last day.

With all of the pre-holiday buzz and widely optimistic sales projections, anything other than a blockbuster 2012 holiday shopping season was bound to be a letdown. Few expected the numbers that came out just before Christmas: Both MasterCard and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) reported that sales for the holiday season at that point were up just 0.7%. This was far below the robust predictions that many analysts and observers made before the shopping season was underway (most often between 3%-6%).

Procter & Gamble name Macy’s chairman, president and CEO Terry Lundgren as the newest member of its board of directors.

Lundgren fills a position vacated by current P&G Director Johnathan Rodgers who is not seeking re-election when P&G’s holds its annual shareholder meeting in October.

The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) is now accepting nominations for the industry’s most prestigious award.

The CSCMP has issued an open call for nominations for its 2013 Distinguished Service Award to recognize an individual who has made significant contributions to the supply chain and logistics management profession. Last year’s recipient of the honor was Ann M. Drake, chairman and CEO of DSC Logistics.

Norwalk, Conn. -- WhenToManage announced that its suite of retail operations solutions, including point-of-sale intelligence, labor scheduling and inventory management tools, is now being deployed by Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, an international franchiser, confectionery manufacturer and retail operator.

If it weren’t for all the noise coming out of Washington, D.C. for the past month about the fiscal cliff and now the debt ceiling, an important development regarding the life and death issue of food safety might have received more attention.