News

Atlanta -- Mobile-commerce enabler Outlier, a subsidiary of Qualcom, announced J.C. Penney as its latest retail partner for Outlier's recently released mobile application, Swagg. The application, providing shoppers with mobile access to retail special offers and customer loyalty programs.

Teradata, the data warehousing and enterprise analytics leader, has a new deal with Walmart to help the retailer store, manipulate and analyze the expanding volume of information that results from selling more than $400 billion worth of goods annually.

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid Corp. reported Thursday that it narrowed its third-quarter loss to $81.5 million, compared with a $86.1 million loss a year ago. But revenue slid and the drugstore operator again lowered its full-year forecast.

Revenue fell 2% to $6.2 billion, in line with Wall Street expectations. Same-store sales dropped 1.3%.

NEW YORK - The Deloitte Spending Index, comprising four components -- tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages and real home prices -- fell to 4.29%, from an upwardly revised gain of 4.71% a month ago. According to Deloitte the decline was primarily due to sustained weakness in the housing market despite incremental gains in other areas.  

Washington, D.C. -- The Labor Department reported Wednesday that the consumer-price index increased 0.1% in November after a 0.2% rise the prior month. The rise was less than forecast, indicating higher prices for commodities such as fuel aren’t filtering through into other goods and services.

The median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey called for a gain of 0.2%. The so-called core measure, which excludes more volatile food and energy costs, also rose 0.1%, matching the median forecast.

According to a new survey from customer intelligence firm, Market Force Information, The Children's Place is consumers' top pick for young children's (10 and younger) apparel when the votes are indexed for the number of stores. The Children's Place earned 17% of the votes, while Gymboree ranked second (13%), and Kohl's and Carter's tied for third with 12%. For children 11 and older, Aeropostale was ranked favorite retailer with 17% of the votes, followed closely by Kohl's (16%) and then Old Navy (10%).

GLENDALE, Calif., and AMSTERDAM, N.Y. — Beech-Nut and Disney Consumer Products have teamed up to unite nutritious foods with characters that toddlers love.

Beech-Nut's new line of products feature Winnie the Pooh characters, including the namesake bear and his pals Piglet and Tigger.

The Beech-Nut toddler food is fortified with vitamins and minerals and contains valuable nutrients, fiber, whole grains, real fruit, real yogurt, real vegetables and protein. The line features meals, sides, snacks and juices including:

Atlanta -- First Data Corp. reported Wednesday that dollar volume growth of prepaid card activations was 8.6% in November, a significant increase over November 2009, when activations declined -2.7%.