News

Rite Aid disappoints
Rite Aid Corp. reported disappointing first-quarter earnings and sales results in its first quarter amid pressure on pharmacy reimbursement rates. The chain reported a loss of $4.6 million for the quarter ended May 28, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier. Excluding certain items, adjusted net income was $14.5 million, or 1 cent per diluted share, compared with 2 cents a year earlier. The results fell short of Wall Street expectations.
Wal-Mart Stores sets bullish sales target
Wal-Mart Stores sent out a message to naysayers who say the chain’s best days are behind it. Speaking at the Consumer Goods Forum conference in Cape Town, South Africa, Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillion said the retailer expects to add $45 billion to $60 billion of new sales during the next three years.

Starbucks takes a seat…inside Outlook

The idea of Starbucks serving as a “third place” outside of home and work has been reinforced with a new add-in to Microsoft Outlook.
ADA Litigation: Website Accessibility Claims on the Rise

Photo: Colin Calvert (Left) and Caroline Pham (Right)
Target rolls forward with Cartwheel

The Cartwheel couponing app from Target, which launched in 2013, is getting its biggest makeover yet. Having been used by more than 25 million customers to create a total savings of more than $500 million, Cartwheel will now offer a more personalized experience, among other upgrades.
Walmart cutting 1,500 back-office jobs — but associates not being laid off

Walmart is trimming administrative positions in some 500 stores in the West. According to multiple media reports, the discount giant will cut three backroom accounting and invoicing positions at each store, for a total of 1,500 jobs. Affected employees will not be laid off, but instead offered front-of-store roles such as pharmacy technician or assisting pickups of online orders. Invoicing tasks will be shifted to corporate headquarters in Arkansas, while accounting functions will be automated.
Father’s Day spending: Eight need-to-know items

Father’s Day is Sunday, June 18, and retailers and dads alike will have reason to smile, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). American adults who plan to consume this holiday will do so in a big way, spending an average of $169.60 at predominantly at physical retailers, according to ICSC’s most recent consumer survey. Here are eight specific findings:
Plenty of room for women at the top in retail

A Swedish retail giant that excels in fast-fashion is also a leader when it comes to breaking the glass ceiling. But a U.S. merchant is not that far behind.
Last-minute deal averts strike at landmark store

Macy’s has managed to avert what would have been the first strike at its most valuable property — its flagship in Manhattan — in over 40 years.
Simply Fresh by McCaffrey’s, Doylestown, Pennsylvania

A new, small-format grocery concept from McCaffrey's Food Markets — Simply Fresh by McCaffrey’s — has opened in a restored 1928 industrial deco building in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, that originally housed a Ford dealership.