News

The introduction later this month of an exclusive new beauty brand backed by a high profile celebrity is seen broadening Walgreens' appeal with a key shopper segment.

Walgreens has teamed up with actress Eva Mendes and beauty company Maesa to launch a multi-cultural beauty brand called Circa. The nationwide launch supports Walgreens' desire to increase accessibility to well-priced, diverse, specialty beauty offerings and reflects its commitment to owned brands.

Conn’s Inc. seemed to be putting their troubles behind them in the fourth quarter, as the company reported a modest increase in same store sales.   The company posted a 4.9% increase in same store sales for January (in January 2014, the company posted an increase of 28.2% mostly due to softer underwriting guidelines). Same store sales for the quarter increased 1.3% and they increased 8% for fiscal 2015.   

Boston -- Three of the nation’s largest asset disposition companies were the successful bidders in the race to liquidate inventory at Target’s 133 Canadian locations.
 
Gordon Brothers Group, Hilco Global (through its Canadian division  Merchant Retail Solutions) and affiliates of Great American Group secured approval from Target Canada and an order from a Canadian court to manage the store closing process for Target’s 133 Canadian locations, with store closing beginning February 5, 2015.
 

The Emerging Trends in Retail conference will take place at a new data and time, but the big news is that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., president and CEO Doug McMillon will headline the annual event put on by the Center for Retailing Excellence.  

New York -- U.S. retail and consumer (R&C) total transaction value for 2014 hit a five-year high and surpassed the $100 billion mark for the second year in a row, according to PwC’s U.S. retail and consumer deals insights 2014 Year in Review and 2015 Outlook report.

Sally Beauty Holdings reported decreased profits for the first quarter, but the company’s just-named CEO says new marketing programs will be paying off soon.   Sally Beauty reported a profit of $54.9 million, or 35 cents a share, in its first fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of $58 million, or 35 cents a share last year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast a profit of 38 cents a share and sales increase of 3.7 percent to $975.1 million.  

PetSmart’s nationally acclaimed initiative to help house the pets of homeless families is expanding.

PetSmart Promise, which helps temporarily homeless families keep all members of their family together -– including their four-legged family members -– is expanding into 16 PetSmart PetsHotel locations nationwide. PetSmart Promise is the result of a collaboration between PetSmart and Family Promise.

Sales of an exclusive holiday cookbook will allow Dillard’s to donate more than $900,000 to of Ronald McDonald House Charities.   For the seventh year in a row, Dillard's offered for sale a special edition of the Southern Living Christmas Cookbook to benefit RMHC.