News

NEW YORK - Macy's announced that it was found to be the number one department store retailer in the United States, according to a survey of international visitors by Mandala Research.

MINNEAPOLIS - Supervalu named Sherry Smith EVP and CFO. Smith had been the company’s interim CFO. She immediately assumes her new role and will directly report to Craig Herkert, CEO and president.

Nashville, Tenn. -- Genesco reported on Friday a criminal intrusion into the portion of its computer network that processes payment card transactions for its U.S. Journeys stores, Journeys Kidz, Shi by Journeys and Johnston & Murphy stores, and for some of its Underground Station stores.

The retailer announced that it took immediate steps to secure the affected part of its network and said it believes the intrusion has been contained.

Framingham, Mass. -- TJX Cos. said Friday it will close its A.J. Wright discount stores by mid-February, cutting 4,400 jobs. The move comes as the company’s T.J. Maxx and Marshalls chains have become better at attracting the lower-income customers that A.J. Wright targeted.

Ninety-one A.J. Wright stores will be converted into T.J. Maxx, Marshalls or HomeGoods stores, and 71 stores and two DC’s will close entirely. About 3,400 employees will keep their jobs and another 4,400 – half part-time and half full-time – will be cut.

Basking Ridge, N.J. -- Verizon Business, which delivers integrated, secure IT solutions to many of the world’s largest retailers, said it predicts the following five trends will shape the retail industry in the coming year.

New York City -- Movie merchandise seller National Entertainment Collectibles said Thursday that it had acquired most of the assets of Movie Gallery, which has been liquidating its Hollywood Video, Movie Gallery and Game Crazy stores.

Movie Gallery, once the nation's second-largest video and game rental chain with 4,000 stores in the United States and Canada, filed for bankruptcy in February. In October, a federal bankruptcy judge in Richmond, Va., approved the auction of its brand names, Internet domain names and customer databases.

New York City -- A survey released Friday by America’s Research Group found that after the Thanksgiving shopping weekend, just 17% of shoppers were paying with credit, representing about half of last year’s level and the lowest rate in the 27 years that the firm has conducted the survey.

“The consumer really feels a lot of pressure from previous debts, and they just aren’t going to dig themselves into that kind of hole,” said Britt Beemer, CEO, of America’s Research Group.

Chelmsford, Mass. -- Kronos announced the December release of the Kronos Retail Labor Index, analyzing the relationship between the demand and supply sides of the labor market within the U.S. retail sector.

The December report, which includes data for November 2010, showed that the Index increased significantly to 3.8%, a 28% increase over last month’s figure of 3.0%.  (A level of 3.0% means that for every 100 applications received, three hirings occurred.)