News

The nation’s convenience stores continued to grow last year creating a peculiar blend of competitive challenges and sales opportunities for Sam’s Club.

New York -- The U.S. Supreme has just ruled that, while the individual mandate to buy health insurance is unconstitutional, this key part of President Obama’s signature healthcare law can stay as part of Congress’s power under a taxing clause.

In other words, the Supreme Court says that the government will be allowed to tax people for not having health insurance.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has given the government permission to tax people for not having health insurance, essentially approving the individual mandate in President Obama's healthcare law.

“The Affordable Care Act's requirement that certain individuals pay a financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance may reasonably characterized as a tax. Because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness,” the court said in the ruling.

Mooresville, N.C. -- Lowe’s said Thursday it is donating $250,000 to the American Red Cross as part of its efforts to provide relief from the wildfires in Colorado and the flooding damage from Tropical Storm Debby in Florida. The home-improvement retailer has already been on the ground assisting local communities affected by both disasters.

PASADENA, Calif. — The princesses may get most of the attention, but it's the villains that often become fan favorites. To capitalize on their popularity, Disney Store has launched an exclusive collection centered around some of its most iconic evil characters.

REDMOND, Wash. — Lowe's is engaging the services of Microsoft to help improve customer service. The company has agreed to implement Microsoft Office 365 across more than 1,745 stores, 200,000 employees and its corporate offices in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Office 365 will help the home improvement retailer improve customer service by providing collaboration tools to increase communication among its stores and employees.

ATLANTA — RedPrairie, a global supply chain and retail technology provider, has released its RedPrairie Commerce Suite 2012.1, a scalable suite of solutions that help retailers generate sales and customer loyalty by creating seamless and dynamic all-channel shopping experiences, with a 360-degree view of orders, merchandise and customer behavior, and integration with RedPrairie fulfillment solutions, the company said.

I mentioned briefly in my last column that I’ve been a little puzzled by what seems to be an industry-wide reluctance to design and develop, and in many cases redevelop centers into, true mixed-use venues. It’s not that our industry doesn’t get excited about mixed-use spaces — they clearly do. But, something is getting lost between the glamorous articles and design concepts, and the real-world execution.