News

Austin, Texas -- Whole Foods Market reported that its net income rose a better-than-expected 5.8% to $128 million in its fiscal fourth quarter, ended Sept. 28, 2014, from $121 million in the year-ago period.  The company also said it plans to open 38 to 42 stores, including five to six relocations, in fiscal 2015. 

Jeffersonville, Ind. --  A majority of consumers (88%) say free shipping makes them more likely to shop online, while 30% shop online to find the best deal possible and 20% to avoid holiday crowds, according to a new survey from omnichannel customer engagement technology vendor Accent.   Other notable findings include:  

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples Inc. is launching holiday in-store, online and mobile deals starting Nov. 16 through Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In addition to discounts on a variety of items, Staples is offering an in-store and online price match guarantee, a new mobile app with a redesigned weekly ad page, daily deals on Staples.com, and shopping from in-store kiosks for items not available in the store.  

New York -- Home/lifestyle brand has redesigned its HGTV.com e-commerce site. The new site includes a curated photo library, revamped show and talent profile pages for the HGTV cable network, and a collection of content channels including content from HGTV television shows.   HGTV is allowing consumers to directly interact with its TV series and stars via social media.   

Brussels, Belgium -- Delhaize Group has signed an agreement to sell its Bottom Dollar Food stores to deep-discount grocer Aldi Inc. for approximately $15 million, including the assumption of associated lease liabilities. The transaction, which involves  66 Bottom Dollar stores in the greater Philadelphia and Pittsburgh markets, is expected to result in an asset impairment and other charges for Delhaize Group of approximately $180 million.  

New York –- Walgreens has reportedly filed for an eight-part benchmark bond offering to help finance its planned $5.3 billion purchase of U.K. drugstore retailer Alliance Boots GmBH. According to Bloomberg, Walgreens has filed with the SEC for three-, five-, seven-, 10-, 20- and 30-year fixed-rate bonds, as well as 18-month and three-year floating-rate notes.  

Milwaukee –- Roundy’s Inc. swung to a net loss of $249.9 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 from net income of $3.2 million the same quarter a year earlier. A variety of impairment charges, including charges related to closing a distribution center, taxes and disposal of obsolete assets, drove Roundy’s into the red, along with higher operating and administrative expenses.  

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Shop Your Way, the loyalty program and social shopping community offered to Sears and Kmart customers, is launching a new health and wellness online resource called Shop Your Way Health.  

By Jason Ausburn and Karl Fruecht   You’ve acquired a new storefront. While doing your final walk-through, you notice an unlocked door that opens to a side alley. You can’t use the alley for storage. It doesn’t give your customers an additional entrance. It’s just an additional access point.   How are you going to secure it?