News

Ace Hardware appointed John Venhuizen chief operating officer, effective Jan. 1, 2012.

Venhuizen has spent nearly two decades with Ace and most recently served as executive VP supply chain, information technology (IT) and international. In this position, he helped grow the number of Ace stores around the world, as well as create a variety of successful support and incentive programs for retailers.

Move over, “Like” button. There’s a new feature on the social media block that makes it easy for retailers to know what shoppers really want.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — A regional supermarket chain and its charitable arm once again has donated funds to the United States Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots program.

Stater Bros., along with Stater Bros. Charities, earlier this month presented a $26,000 check to the program, which will be used to purchase toys that will be distributed to community-based organizations in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.

The New Year poses more opportunities for retailers to grow profits by shrinking costs, and taking a fresh look at the supply chain can provide the surest avenues to enhanced bottom lines. Chain Store Age talked with Ryder Supply Chain Solutions’ Chris Merritt about supply chain trends and methods for strategically reducing expense.

What do you see as overriding trends in retail supply chain?

Westboro, Mass. -- Micros-Retail, a division of Micros Systems, said Wednesday that Barneys New York has launched the Micros-Retail miStore mobile point-of-sale solution in its flagship New York store, starting this holiday season. 

Chicago -- A report released Wednesday by ShopperTrak found that holiday shoppers boosted sales 21.7% over the previous week and 1.3% over the same week last year.

According to ShopperTrak, sales increases during the week ending Dec. 17 made this December on pace to have higher retail sales than last year. Month-to-date figures are up 0.5% over December 2010.

Change at the top is an inevitable fact of life in any profession, and retail is no exception. While the reasons behind the need to find a new chief executive vary widely, the incoming executives face a common challenge: taking the business — be it faltering or thriving — forward without missing a beat.

SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Walmart announced that its Vudu entertainment service is now available Xbox 360. Xbox LIVE customers can now shop Vudu’s library using new, interactive features such as voice search, voice control and Kinect gesture commands to rent or own the latest Hollywood hits, TV shows, cinema classics and independent gems in standard or high definition, the company said.

As an incentive to get customers to try Vudu on Xbox, Walmart announced that Vudu is offering a $4.99 credit toward their first rental or purchase.