News

Staples adds Jonas juice to student initiative
Staples is injecting a little bit of boy band starpower into its latest promotion aimed on supporting education.

The retailer is building on its decades-long support of teachers, students and education with a $10 million pledge to support Think It Up, a program launched by the Entertainment Industry Foundation. Think IT Up is a new movement created to inspire students to pursue their passions through student-powered, teacher-led learning projects with support from Staples for Students.
Costco comps increase in June
Headwinds from fuel price fluctuations and currency exchange rates lessened for Costco in June as the retailer posted a bump in same store sales.

The warehouse club reported net sales of $11.01 billion for the month of June, the five weeks ended July 5, an increase of 1% from $10.88 billion during the similar period last year. Same store sales, excluding the negative impacts from gasoline price deflation and foreign exchange, were 6%.

Specialty pharmacy bumps Fred's sales

Fred's Inc. says the expansion of its specialty pharmacy business helped drive an increase in sales in June.

Fred's total sales for the period ended July 4 increased 12% to $212.9 million from $190.8 million in June 2014. Excluding $7.4 million from last year's June sales for 56 subsequently closed locations, total sales increased 16% for the month. Same store sales for the month increased 1.6% compared with a decrease of 0.6% in the same period last year.
Toys ‘R’ Us kicks its e-commerce business up a notch

Wayne, N.J. – Toys “R” Us is taking e-commerce into its own hands.

In a move to optimize its e-commerce business and significantly improve the customer experience online, the toy giant announced plans to bring its U.S. e-commerce operations in-house. The plans include building and managing a new platform for Toysrus.com, Babiesrus.com and FAO.com.

Toys “R” Us expects to launch its own online platform by the end of summer 2016.
Ex-Walgreens CFO joining ConAgra board

A former chief financial officer of Walgreens is joining the board of directors at ConAgra Foods as the company deals with the interest of activist investors.
Lowe's earns accolades for disaster relief

Lowe's is getting some recognition for its efforts to aid communities with money, supplies and manpower in times of disaster.
Alibaba stays busy with e-commerce partnerships

Hangzhou, China – Nobody can accuse Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. of sitting back and resting on its past success.

The global e-commerce giant is constantly making investments and launching new businesses, and in the past 24 hours has made two new business moves of significant interest to its online retailing competitors.
Books-A-Million plans big Harper Lee promotions

Books-A-Million is getting ready for the much-anticipated release of “Go Set a Watchman” from Harper Lee with an exclusive promotion.
Sally Beauty goes high-fashion

Denton, Texas -- Sally Beauty Holdings is partnering with Lifetime show Project Runway as part of a broader initiative by the chain to update its brand.
Haggen focused on omnichannel personalized marketing

West Coast regional grocer Haggen Food and Pharmacy has a new omnichannel partner to help drive growth.

The retailer has selected Unata to help implement customer loyalty and other initiatives to allow for more personalized marketing across Haggen’s channels including online, mobile and in-store.