News

Dubai, India -- A Monday report by Reuters said that French retailer Auchan has entered into a franchise agreement with Max Hypermarket, India.

Max operates 13 hypermarkets in India, which will be rebranded as Auchan stores in early 2013.

The pair said they plan to open 12-15 new stores annually across India. Because Max Hypermarket India Ltd is controlled by retail and hospitality company Landmark Group, which operates hypermarkets under the Max brand only in India and therefore is not restricted under foreign ownership regulations.

With the start of Back to School promotions, (and taking JCPenney out of the mix) we witnessed increase in page count that was driven mainly by significant increases in Walmart’s and Sears’ page counts.

JCPenney has been drastically altering their promotional strategy in past couple of months, however this month, the store did not promote at all, causing curiosity for many customers. (It should be noted that JCPenney did release circulars the week of July 29th that will be counted in the August report.)

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney Co. reported Friday a bigger-than-expected second-quarter loss of $147 million, compared with net income of $14 million in the same period last year.

Sales plummeted 22% to $3.02 billion from $3.9 billion, and same-store sales tumbled 21.7% after an 18.9% fall in the first quarter. Wall Street had forecast revenue of $3.2 billion.

Facing the investment community on Friday, CEO Ron Johnson admitted to some strategic pricing mistakes, but said he and his team will stay the course.

DALLAS — The Army and Air Force Exchange Service and Marvel Custom Solutions on Thursday announced the 13th collaborative issue of an “Avengers” comic book, available only through AAFES locations.

Marvel and AAFES have printed 1 million copies of the free comic book and currently are available at Exchange stores worldwide while supplies last.

New York -- Macy’s Inc. is rolling out a new order fulfillment system that lays the groundwork for same-day delivery services by leveraging the proximity of its physical store locations to its customers, according to a report on the Huffington Post.

To date, 280 stores have been outfitted to provide shipping services.

Online retail giants Amazon and eBay are moving in the same direction, the report said.
 

CINCINNATI — DunnhumbyUSA has appointed a new VP business development.

The company said Brian Murphy will be responsible in leading its growth with retail partners in consumer markets, adding that Murphy's role "is instrumental in aligning business objectives and strategy to build measurable and sustainable value as DunnhumbyUSA expands its retail footprint into industry verticals such as apparel, beauty and food service."

Murphy joins DunnhumbyUSA from SBC Advertising, a leading retail advertising agency in Columbus, Ohio.

BOISE, Idaho — Albertsons Market has launched a month-long contest asking customers to share their “Best Road Trip. Ever!” through photos, videos and essays on Albertsons Markets’ Facebook fan page for a chance to win a new car.

By Craig LaRosa, [email protected]

A consumer walks into a store, tries on a pair of running shoes, and then hops online to buy them from someone else—10% to 15% cheaper. It’s called “showrooming” and it has a lot of businesses scrambling.