News

If the retail industry needed a catalyst for change, one that nearly mandates more efficient and sustainable packaging practices, FedEx recently provided the blowtorch to ignite it.

Starbucks Corp. has opened its first company-operated store at Walt Disney World Resort, a nearly 4,000-sq.-ft. site at Downtown Disney West Side in Orlando, Florida.

Boston – The Massachusetts House of Representatives has approved a bill that would gradually raise the state’s minimum wage from its current hourly rate of $8 to $11 by 2017, which would make it the highest state minimum wage in the country.

The state Senate has already approved the bill, which is expected to be approved by Gov. Deval Patrick (D) after a procedural Senate vote. Under the legislation, the minimum wage would rise to $9 per hour on Jan. 1, 2015; to $10 on Jan. 1, 2016; and finally to $11 on Jan. 1, 2017.

Wayne, N.J. – Toys “R” Us, Inc. announced that it has named Michael J. Short executive CFO, effective June 23.
 
Short, 53, a seasoned finance executive with broad retail and corporate development experience, was most recently executive VP and CFO of AutoNation for seven years.
 

New York – Online is the leading channel for consumers to perform both back-to-school and back-to-college shopping. According to a study from e-commerce marketing technology provider HookLogic and polling company Qriously, 35% of consumers shop for back-to-school suppliers online, while 34% shop in-store and 33% shop both channels (some totals equal more than 100% due to rounding).

London – Three-quarters of online shoppers have shopped online for groceries and 40% of these do so on a regular basis, but only one-third of grocery shoppers rate their experience as “easy.” And only one-in-five (19%) of those surveyed by EDigitalResearch are delighted with their online grocery experience.

Brussels – Major multinational retailers such as Starbucks and Apple will have to start paying higher taxes in Europe, thanks to a move by the European Union (E.U.) to end certain tax breaks it has now defined as “state aid,” which is prohibited by E.U. bylaws. These breaks, which member nations including Ireland, Luxembourg, and Netherlands have used to allow some types of profit to be classified as tax-deductible debt, had come under fire from other E.U. nations and the U.S.

New York -- As part of a strategic move towards achieving seamless inventory management in an omnichannel retail environment, eco-friendly outdoor apparel retailer and wholesaler Patagonia has extended its partnership with 7thonline to support merchandise and assortment planning for its brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce channel.

Scottsdale, Ariz. – Big Data pricing solution vendor Clear Demand is partnering with competitive price intelligence provider 360pi. Under this joint initiative, 360pi’s real-time price intelligence is fed into Clear Demand’s pricing platform, which in turn alerts retailers to competitive price changes, including compliance with product-line and pricing rules, and helps manage competitive price strategy.

Matthews, N.C. – Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn, who recently engaged in a high-profile effort to force EBay to separate its PayPal business, is now demanding that Family Dollar sell itself. Icahn, who recently disclosed he has a 9.4% stake in the discount retailer, sent an open letter to Family Dollar chairman Howard Levine saying that it is imperative the company be put up for sale immediately.