News

Report: Amazon.com may buy Net-a-porter
Forbes is reporting that Amazon.com is in the preliminary stages of a deal to buy luxury retailer Net-a-porter, which could be its biggest acquisition ever according to the magazine.

Seattle-based Amazon has been making moves to expand its presence in the world of upscale fashon retailing by increasing its luxury apparel offerings.

Swiss-owned Net-a-porter has been valued at $2 billion euro.
Finish Line Q4 profit falls; announces new buyback plan
Indianapolis -- The Finish Line Inc. on Friday reported a decline in its fourth-quarter profit and cautioned that profits in its current year may not hit expectations of a fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $40.8 million.

The retailer also authorized a new 5-million-share buyback program.

The Finish Line’s earnings in the fourth quarter fell 5% to $40.8 million.

Consolidated net sales for the quarter were $551.3 million, an increase of 6.3% over the prior year period. Same-store sales increased 2.6%.

ARTS adds to standard RFP library

Washington, D.C. - The Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS), a division of the National Retail Federation (NRF), has announced two major additions to the ARTS Standard Request for Proposals (RFP) library on selecting payments solutions and video analytics solutions. These standardized RFPs will help retail companies research software applications ahead of time.
Nielsen does deal to expand insights offering

Retailers can measure every aspect of shoppers’ behavior on their Web sites and now an agreement between Nielsen and RetailNext means some of the same insights can be obtained from the physical world.
Charming Charlie supports business growth with Oracle Retail

Houston – Specialty accessories retailer Charming Charlie is supporting rapid growth of its business with an enterprise rollout of Oracle Retail applications. And “business” is the key word in the equation.

“This is not an IT project,” John Hnanicek, CIO of Charming Charlie, said during a session at Oracle Industry Connect 2015. “It’s a business project sponsored by the business and supported by IT.”
Holiday, online sales boost Belk Q4 profits; opening two stores

Charlotte, N.C. – Belk Inc. credited strong holiday sales for helping to boost net income in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 8% to $104.4 million from $96.3 million the same period a year earlier.

Net sales rose 5% to $1.39 billion from $1.32 billion, driven by a 2.4% increase in same-store sales and 42% surge in online sales.
Fred's names former Walgreens exec as head merchant

Putting aside a worse than expected fourth quarter loss, regional discounter Fred’s could be on the cusp of more meaningful growth after assembling a roster of top executive talent under the leadership of CEO Jerry Shore and president Mike Bloom.
P&G campaign focuses on Latina shoppers

Proctor & Gamble is trying to increase Latina interest in its products with a new “Living Fabulosa” (living fabulously) initiative.

It is part pf the company’s Orgullosa campaign, which highlights the unique and complex experience of the modern, bicultural Latina -- the Nueva Latina.
Walmart’s Foran and McKenna to offer views in NY

In a break from tradition, Walmart is hosting an investor meeting in New York on April 1 with the new team of top executives who are driving the latest round of changes at the retailer’s U.S. business.

A 90 minutes session scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EST on April 1 at the New York Stock Exchange will be hosted by Walmart U.S. President and CEO Greg Foran.
C.H. Robinson named a Walmart logistics leader

Walmart recognized multimodal logistics provider C.H. Robinson with the retailer’s first-ever award for third party logistics providers.

C.H. Robinson said it received the Third Party Logistical (3PL) Carrier of the Year award for 2014 due to contributions for outstanding service, effective communication and providing solutions and innovations in a changing industry.