News

Leading single price point retailer 99 Cents Only has secured a major amendment and extension of its credit facility until 2021.

The operator of 391 stores, 283 of which are located in California, announced it successfully completed an amendment and extension of its asset-based revolving credit facility providing commitment of up to $160 million and extending the maturity date by five years to April 8, 2021.

U.S. consumers have named their top grocery chain, and for the first time in four years it isn’t Trader Joe’s.

Findings from an online study of more than 10,000 consumers conducted in February 2016 by Market Force Information revealed that Wegmans is America’s favorite grocery retailer. Wegmans was followed by Publix Super Markets and Trader Joe’s.

Merrillville, Indiana-based membership buying club DirectBuy is hoping mobile visual search capability will help spur growth beyond its 25 brick-and-mortar stores.

“It seems that more members, instead of going to club locations, are browsing and shopping completely online,” Ted Fay, senior director of digital marketing and e-commerce at DirectBuy, said in an interview with Chain Store Age. “We see this as an opportunity to grow our membership base and go places we don’t have a brick-and-mortar store.”

Amazon is the best place in the world to fail—that’s just one of the  insights and observations in CEO Jeff Bezos’ annual letter to shareholders.  

The world’s largest social network has updated its policies regarding branded content and, in so doing, given retailers a new marketing tool.

Facebook is now allowing retailers and other marketers to work with media companies, celebrities and other key “influencers” to place certain types of branded content on its platform.

The world’s largest social network has updated its policies regarding branded content and, in so doing, given retailers a new marketing tool.

Facebook is now allowing retailers and other marketers to work with media companies, celebrities and other key “influencers” to place certain types of branded content on its platform.

Glendale, California-based casual dining retailer Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar already allows customers to place orders ahead of time for curbside pickup, but is looking to extend omnichannel convenience even further.

Applebee’s, which operates more than 2,000 franchised stores in 49 states, designed the revised mobile app in partnership with digital ordering provider Olo. The revision comes with new capabilities including a simplified order placement process that allows for advance ordering and order scheduling for any time in the future.

Amazon is the best place in the world to fail — that’s just one of the insights and observations in CEO Jeff Bezos’ annual letter to shareholders. Bezos talks about the importance of experimentation at Amazon in the letter, and also discusses failure in words that are rare for a CEO to use in a letter to investors, according to the Washington Post. He also cites the three "bold bets" at Amazon that have worked, starting with Amazon Web Services.

Retailers have a way to go in satisfying their customers in several key areas.

The IBM 2016 Global Customer Experience Index (CEI) evaluated 550 brick-and-mortar and pure-play retailers spanning eight different retail segments in 23 countries across the globe. This study revealed that the industry achieved an overall performance score of 40%, a failing grade, when measured against customer satisfaction criteria.

Market Track compared retail circular advertising in March 2016 vs. March 2015 and noted trends occurring across top retail chains.

Lowe’s Home Improvement had denser March print circulars with twice the ads per page and nearly 80 additional ads per drop. Lowe’s shifted the Spring Black Friday sale to the 3/31 drop; up from first week of May 2015.

Home depot did not counter this shift through print, but promoted Spring Black Friday on their website.