News

Former Apple and JCPenney executive Ron Johnson’s career has been marked by spectacular success and failure, which is why his new retail venture called Enjoy is of interest, even if it borrows heavily from a service Best Buy launched more than a decade ago.

Billed as a “a whole new way to buy and enjoy technology,” Johnson secured $30 million in funding last fall and launched the service on Wednesday in the San Francisco area and debuts May 13 in New York.

Whole Foods Market set another sales record in the second quarter – but that’s not enough for the grocery chain, which announced it is launching a new store concept targeted to the Millennial shopper.

Reston, Va. -- Nearly one-half (44%) of retailers used more than five mobile business applications in 2014, while 82% of retailers were able to build a mobile business app in one day or less, according to the “2nd Annual Mobile Business Application Survey” of business and IT decision makers by Canvas.

Among the key survey findings:

HSN’s push to make it easier for smartphone shoppers to buy its products online was successful in the first quarter, with the multichannel retailer reporting a big increase in mobile sales.

Digital sales at HSN grew 18%, with mobile sales increasing 31%. HSN earned $0.63 per share in the first quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.58 per share. Similarly, revenue of $841.9 million was better than the $826.08 million analysts expected. 

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has a vast and complicated corporate infrastructure, but that doesn’t stop the world’s largest retailer from pursuing fast, fact-based decisions based on technology innovation. During a keynote address at the SAP SAPPHIRE conference in Orlando, Florida, Wal-Mart CIO Karenann Terrell described Wal-Mart’s approach to decisions and data.

With retailers and CPG companies continuing to struggle with in-store execution issues like on-shelf availability, inventory and promotions, leading supply chain analytics and insights provider Orchestro asked industry thought leaders to weigh in on the three key questions.

Go to the Orchestro article by clicking here.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation is  NRF is hosting a night of shopping in the nation’s capital to honor retail’s entrepreneurial spirit.

The National Retail Federation’s “Retail’s Night Out” will be a celebration of Small Business Week with local merchants and national brands set up in one-night-only pop-up shops in Washington, D.C., on May 6. The event will also feature live music, local food trucks and a red carpet.

St. Louis -- Build-A-Bear Workshop said its total revenue fell 5% in the first quarter amid harsh winter weather between Valentine’s Day and Easter in North America.  

The chain’s profit for the quarter, ended March 29, totaled a better-than-expected $8.3 million, compared with from $5.1 million in the year-ago period.

Total revenues were $93.4 million, less than expected, compared to $97.9 million in year-ago period. Revenue was also negatively impacted by fiscal 2014 having a 53rd week, the company said.