News

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has cleared the merger of supermarket operators Safeway Inc. and Albertsons, creating a larger competitor to rival chain Kroger. But there is one caveat.

The FTC agreed to the deal only after Safeway and Albertsons agreed to sell 168 stores to address the FTC’s competition concerns.

Boca Raton, Fla. - Office Depot Inc. has selected CoreMedia LiveContext software to help enhance the customer shopping experience for Officedepot.com by streamlining the collaboration between its online authors to ensure faster time-to-market for executing integrated campaigns. Late in 2014 and within a short period of time, CoreMedia LiveContext was integrated with the Office Depot product catalog, pricing information and front-end modules, providing business users with a single interface to access this real-time information and blend it with marketing content.

Alexandria, Va. - The U.S. convenience store count increased to 152,794 stores as of Dec. 31, 2014. That marks a nearly 1% increase from the prior year, according to the 2015 NACS/Nielsen Convenience Industry Store Count.

Louisville - Gasoline and convenience-store chain Thorntons Inc. is receiving its own refreshing results from its Paytronix-powered “Refreshing Rewards” loyalty program. Since the program was launched in September 2014, Thorntons Refreshing Rewards program managers have been successfully using targeted promotions to get members to visit more frequently and are leveraging program data for category management.  

By Kris Bjorson, JLL

As recently as a year or two ago, “mobile retailing” was a major industry buzzword. Everyone was busy trying to figure out how to best “mobile-enable” their enterprise.

New York -- In today's data-filled world, many retailers are missing some of the most basic — and important — metrics of all: store data and conversion rates. Join this Chain Store Age Webinar on Jan. 29, 2 p.m. (EST), and learn how the insights gained from this data can give companies an edge in today's hypercompetive, omnichannel retail environment. Analytics expert Mark Ryski will discuss how insights from store traffic and conversion analytics can help retailers deliver better results.

Brussels, Belgium – The addition of a 53rd week in fiscal 2014 for its U.S. operations helped global grocery conglomerate Delhaize Group make up for disappointing results from its Belgium stores. Including the extra week and benefiting from retail inflation, fourth quarter U.S. revenues were $5.23 billion, a 12% increase from $4.67 billion the same period a year earlier.

New York – Consumers mostly spent within their means during the 2014 holiday season. Only one-in-six Americans spent more than expected this holiday season, according to a new Bankrate.com report.  

This is consistent with readings in previous years. Millennials (Americans ages 18-29) were twice as likely as those ages 30-49 to have spent more during the holidays than intended. Overall, one-in-four Americans spent less than expected this holiday season.

Grapevine, Texas – GameStop is running its annual “Re-Fun Your Refund” program. Starting Jan. 26 and running through March 1, customers can use their tax refund to pick up video games or electronics.

GameStop is offering a variety of discounts and special offers for video games, consumer electronics, and accessories. For the second consecutive year, GameStop is partnering with H&R Block to bring exclusive GameStop deals to H&R Block Emerald Card holders and can be redeemed at all GameStop store locations or online.