News

GMA in Vermont GMO battle
Usually it’s California causing regulatory headaches for retailers and suppliers, but now tiny Vermont is getting in on the action with onerous labeling requirements and hefty fines that are expected to be a compliance nightmare.
Pier I Imports: Omnichannel transformation complete
Fort Worth, Texas -- There was good news in Pier 1 Imports’ first quarter performance, including a 2% increase in same-store sales.

The retailer reported net income of $6.9 million for the quarter, ended May 30, down from $15.1 million in the year-ago period. Its results were in line with expectations.

Petco launches on-demand product delivery

Petco is joining the increasingly large group of retailers offering on-demand delivery of their products.

The specialty retailer has teamed with Instacart in a first-of-its-kind partnership in the pet industry. PetcoNow is a new service that gives pet parents the ability to have Petco products delivered directly to their door in as little as one hour.
Port delays hurt sales at Hancock Fabrics

A disruption in product flow because of the West Coast port dispute led to a drop in same store sales for Hancock Fabrics in the first quarter.

The company had net sales of $61.7 million for the first quarter ended May 2, compared to $63 million in the first quarter of the prior year. Same store sales declined by 1.9%.
Survey: Marketers seek personalized interactions

Somerville, Mass. – Almost all (91%) of marketers either use or intend to use personalization for online customer interactions within the next year. According to a new survey from real-time personalization provider Evergage, nearly one in two marketers surveyed (49%) intends to increase their budgets for personalization in the year ahead, with 80% planning to increase them significantly (by more than 10%).
Petco partners with Instacart on PetcoNow delivery service

San Francisco - Petco is launching a new on-demand delivery service called PetcoNow, in partnership with Instacart. PetcoNow gives pet owners the ability order from selection of approximately 13,000 Petco products, delivered directly to their door in as little as one hour.
New regs pose drone dilemma for retailers, except Amazon.com

Federal regulations governing unmanned aircraft systems, or drones, will be in place by this time next year.

Most retailers won’t be ready, but Amazon says it will be as soon as the feds are. Testifying at a congressional hearing on June 17, Paul Misener, Amazon.com’s vice president of global public policy told lawmakers it would be ready to deliver packages via its service branded as Prime Air as soon as federal rules are in place.
Plug and Play’s CEO Corner: Will Summerlin, Pinn

Plug and Play brings together retailers and start-ups that offer specific technology and expertise that can relieve merchants’ pain points. Chain Store Age’s Customer Disruption newsletter provides a Q&A with the CEO of one of those companies in each issue. This time, the spotlight is on Will Summerlin of Pinn.

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Walgreens debuts LBGT Hallmark card section

A Walgreens store in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood is co-hosting its reopening with Hallmark on Tuesday, unveiling an updated Hallmark department tailored to the neighborhood’s LGBT population.
Is A&P poised for sale?

Montvale, N.J. -- The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. is actively shopping 137 of its stores, including 10 Food Emporium locations in New York City, according to the New York Post.

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