News

The warehouse is shifting from a building where you keep stuff to an intelligent hub that supports order management, customer service and general productivity.

The world’s largest ice cream manufacturer has opened its first U.S. storefront, a pop-up in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood.

Unilever is opening custom-dipping shops for its Magnum Ice Cream brand around the world, and the SoHo outpost is its first U.S. storefront. (Unilever’s other ice-cream brands include Ben & Jerry’s, Fudgsicle and Klondike.)

The man who turned a single struggling bookstore he bought in 1965 into a retail empire is retiring from active duty.

Leonard Riggio, founder and executive chairman of Barnes & Noble Inc., announced that he will retire as chairman in September, following the chain’s annual shareholder meeting.

“I’ve done everything I have wanted to do in business and now it is time for me to pursue the many other endeavors related to my philanthropic and social interests,” said Riggio.

Plans are being finalized for a new 100,000-sq.-ft. retail re-development in Enid, Oklahoma, across from the city’s Oakwood Mall, according to developer GBT Realty Corp.

Amazon.com continues to expand its fulfillment center network along with its fleet of college pickup locations.

The e-tail giant will open two new fulfillment centers in New Jersey, in Florence and Carteret. The new centers will create more than 2,000 new full-time jobs in the Garden State, where Amazon already employs more than 5,500 full-time workers.

Ace Hardware Corp. is best known for selling home improvement merchandise, but also operates a growing grocery channel.

Using technology from ProLogic Retail Services, a provider of loyalty marketing solutions specializing in independent grocers, the retail cooperative is enabling its Ace Rewards loyalty program in co-located grocery stores. Ace operates grocery in both “store-within-a-store” configurations and adjacent storefronts with grocery partners.

It’s closing time for Sports Authority, which is giving up on reorganization.

An attorney for the sporting goods retailer told the judge in bankruptcy court on Tuesday that the company is no longer pursuing reorganization and exiting Chapter 11. Instead, it will look for buyers to purchase some or all of its remaining stores.

“It has become apparent that the debtors will not reorganize under a plan but instead will pursue a sale,” company attorney Robert Klyman said in court.

SuperValu Inc. on Tuesday reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit that beat expectations. But in a setback to plans to spin-off its deep-discount banner, same-store sales fell 2.2% at Save-A-Lot.

SuperValu earnings in the quarter increased to $52 million, or 20 cents a share, up from $39 million, or 14 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding debt refinancing, store closures and expenses related to the potential Save-A-Lot spinoff, adjusted per-share earnings rose to 23 cents.