News

Sears Canada, which laid off more than 1,300 employees on Jan. 15, is cutting an additional 624 jobs. The retailer said it is modifying its store structure to improve efficiency and increase the effectiveness of the chain of communication between management and the store associate teams within the stores.

Less than two months after Sam’s Club named a new president and CEO, two of the warehouse club’s top executives are scheduled to weigh in on its digital direction at an event in late February.

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores has promoted Tony Carosello to VP, real estate. Carosello, previously director of real estate operations for the company, will report to Jim Kerr, EVP, CFO.

Welch's Fruit Snacks have launched Welch's PB&J Snacks, which combines peanut butter and jelly in one treat.

The bite-size snacks have a chewy center made with real fruit, which is surrounded by a peanut butter coating, according to the company. Snackers can choose from four varieties: Concord Grape or Strawberry center and creamy or crunch peanut butter outside.

Samuel Adams is ready to share Rebel IPA with drinkers across the nation. The IPA offers consumers citrus aromas along with piney, resinous notes that come from West Coast hops.

Rebel IPA was one of the first beers to be developed in the Samuel Adams nanobrewery, a small batch, 10-gallon brewery system that operates within the confines of the Samuel Adams Boston Brewery.

Walmart Supercenters in California benefit communities by supporting additional job creation, small business growth and more robust sales tax revenues, according to a new economic impact report.

The study was conducted by economist Lon Hatamiya of the Hatamiya Group and the results were announced by Walmart, which is sure to cause opponents of the company to question the validity of the results. That said, key findings of the study show the following:

Solid volume growth and new product sales in North America helped The Hershey Company regain its category leadership position in the candy, mint and gum business with a 30.1% market share.

The company synonymous with chocolate said its fourth quarter sales increased 11.7% to nearly $2 billion and that sales in North America slightly exceeded expectations due to a solid holiday season.

Overstock said that it’s still adjusting to changes Google made to its search engine algorithms, which reduced the online retailer’s ranking in some search results during some periods. As a result, the company has had to emphasize other marketing channels, such as sponsored search.

Although sponsored search has generated revenue growth for the company, Overstock said that the move also incurs higher associated marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue than it had to pay prior to Google making its changes.

Intrix Technology, a leading payment processor, has named Peter N. Matino as chief sales officer, a newly created position.

In his new role, Matino is responsible for building a nationwide sales organization and executing an integrated sales strategy as well as developing and executing corporate marketing strategies.

Amazon.com may have achieved record fourth-quarter sales of $25.6 billion, but its top line was well below what analysts expected and so were profits.

The company’s sales increased 20% to $25.6 billion during the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to $21.3 billion the prior year. Analysts had forecast sales of slightly more than $26 billion. Meanwhile, Amazon said it earned profits of $239 million, or 51 cents a share, well ahead of prior year figures of $97 million and 21 cents a share, but substantially below the 74 cents analysts were expecting.