News

Sponsored by the National Confectioners Association, the 2014 Sweets & Snacks Expo hosted a sold out show at Chicago’s McCormick Place to an audience of more than 16,000 qualified industry professionals. The Expo, held May 20–22, is being touted as the confectionery and snack industry’s most successful, world-class event.

Tuesday Morning Corporation has named Susan H. Davidson as SVP of marketing. She succeeds Ross Manning, who has vacated the spot to “pursue other professional opportunities,” according to the company.

Hudson's Bay Company more than doubled sales in the first quarter driven primarily by its acquisition of Saks last year.

Retail sales were $1.9 billion, an increase of $971 million from $884 million for the prior year. Consolidated same-store sales increased by 2.8%, with increases of 2.5% at DSG, 2.6% at Saks Fifth Avenue and 15.1% at Off 5th. Digital commerce sales totaled $207 million, reflecting both the inclusion of Hudson's Bay and Lord & Taylor (which together are referred to as “Department Store Group” or DSG) and Saks.

Bella Vista, Australia – Australian supermarket chain Woolworths is deploying technology from Galleria to enhance promotional merchandising operations. Woolworths plans to implement Galleria’s Foundation Services (GFS), Promotional Display Optimization (PDO) and Store Operations Workbench (SOW) to help operationalize an enhanced promotional merchandising strategy to improve the customer experience across their enterprise

New York -- 99 Cents Only Stores named Christopher Laurence as the company's interim CFO, treasurer and secretary. Laurence replaces Frank Schools, who resigned to pursue other opportunities.

Laurence most recently was CEO of ThreeSixty Group, a product development and sourcing company for consumer product brands and retailers.

The Woodlands, Texas – Conn’s Inc. exceeded Wall Street estimates with both its net income and net sales performance during the first quarter of fiscal 2014. In addition, the retailer said it plans to open 17-20 new stores while closing 10 existing stores during the full fiscal year.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. – Dollar General Corp. has opened its 12th distribution center in Bethel, Pennsylvania. Dollar General announced plans to build the 930,000-sq.-ft. facility in 2012 and broke ground on the facility in fall 2012 with Kinsley Construction.

Austin, Texas - More people buy Mother's Day gifts than Father's Day gifts (86%, compared to 77%). According to the 2014 Father’s Day Shopper Trend report from RetailMeNot, survey respondents say they spend $61 on Father's Day gifts and $68 on Mother's Day gifts.

New York - The vast majority (80%) of consumers aged 20-40 in the U.S. and U.K. believe total privacy in the digital world is a thing of the past, but nearly half (49%) said they would not object to having their buying behavior tracked if it would result in relevant offers from brands and suppliers. A new study of 2,012 consumers by Accenture also shows.64% of respondents said that when they are physically in a store, they would welcome text messages from that retailer alerting them to offers matching their buying preferences.

Pittsburgh - Field & Stream is celebrating the opening of its new store in Erie, Pennsylvania on June 13 with an omnichannel promotion. The promotion centers around the first-ever Field & Stream Camp 1871, an overnight camping event June 12-13.