News

Bankrupt sporting goods retailer Gander Mountain may live to see another day.   Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings Inc. is planning to bid for as many as 80% of Gander Mountain’s stores, Bloomberg reported. Gander Mountain filed for bankruptcy on March 10.  

Rite Aid managed to best analyst forecasts for the fourth quarter even as its chairman and CEO noted that "the extended duration of the merger process" with Walgreens Boots Alliance is "having a negative impact" on the company's results.    Rite Aid’s revenue rose a better-than-expected 2.7% to $8.5 billion in the quarter. Same-store sales fell 3.0%, consisting of a 4.3% decrease in pharmacy sales and a 0.3% decrease in front-end sales.  

One does not live by bargains alone, and the latest outlet center to realize that and pick up its food and beverage game is The Outlets at Legends in Sparks, Nevada.   RED Development announced that six new restaurants are slated to open at the center, including The Habit Burger Grill, Jersey Mike’s Subs, and Chick-Fil-A. A 75,000-sq.-ft. retail space expansion is also underway, led by a 40,000-sq.-ft. Burlington Coat Factory outlet with a planned opening in spring of 2018.  

Always in search of more efficient, cheaper delivery methods, Amazon is exploring a new avenue.   The online giant has created a think tank that is evaluating how driverless vehicles could improve package delivery speeds, according to NewsMax.   The group, which is comprised of 12 members, began brainstorming on the initiative more than a year ago. However, the group is not designing a fleet of driverless vehicles.   

April's consumer confidence metric didn't live up to the new benchmark established in March, when consumer confidence reached a 16-year high.   This month, the Index declined to 120.3 from 124.9 in March.  

Albertsons Cos. on Monday appointed the president of its Jewel-Osco division, Mike Withers as  executive VP, retail operations, Albertsons.   Withers will lead the company's East Region operations, while current executive VP, retail operations Susan Morris will lead the West Region. Jim Perkins, executive VP, retail operations Special Projects, is focused on targeted initiatives to accelerate growth. All three executives will continue to report to Wayne Denningham, president and COO, ALbertsons.  

The founder and CEO of Edible Arrangements has bought back equity ownership of the company.    Tariq Farid announced Monday that he has completed a buyback of equity of the company, which had been held by private equity firm L Catterton, Greenwich, Connecticut. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.  

Walmart’s tech start-up has added a new leader.   The retail giant’s newly launched startup investment arm, called Store No. 8, has named Jenny Fleiss as one of its chief executives, according to Reuters. Fleiss is the co-founder and former head of business development for Rent the Runway.