News

Organic grocer sees 'green' in December
Online warehouse club operator Green Polka Dot Box has a quirky name, but shoppers don’t seem to mind as the natural foods retailer’s December sales increased 65 percent.

"Based on early sales results, we anticipate that customer growth in this first month of the year will increase from the current level of approximately 4,200 to more than 6,000," said Rod Smith, CEO of the company. "And that we will see corresponding increases in monthly sales in January.”
Don’t Let the Data Breach Grinch Steal Your Reputation or Profits
By Ulf Mattsson, Protegrity

Qualcomm to power Walgreens' digital efforts

As it seeks to further improve its digital interaction with customers, Walgreens has chosen Qualcomm as its partner for device connectivity with the drugstore chain's mobile and web applications, as well as its Balance Rewards program.
Apple leads in Christmas week device activations

San Francisco, Calif. - Apple accounted for 51% of the new device activations worldwide during the week leading up to and including Christmas Day (Dec. 19 - 25). According to data from mobile analytics provider Flurry, Christmas Day typically sees the highest number of new device activations and app installs each year, with 2014 following the trend.
End of the line for Bottom Dollar Food

It's official: Bottom Dollar Food will close its 66 store locations in the greater Philadelphia and greater Pittsburgh markets by Jan. 15 and retire the banner's operations.

In November, Delhaize Group — the parent company of Bottom Dollar Food — announced the sale of Bottom Dollar's stores and associated lease liabilities to ALDI Inc., which has expressed an interest in growing its U.S. footprint.
Amazon: Sellers had ‘record-setting’ year in 2014

Seattle -- Amazon is not a company to shy away from touting its success. On Monday, the online giant announced that third-party sellers on Amazon Marketplace sold a “record-setting” more than two billion items worldwide in 2014, and that the number of its sellers adopting the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service grew more than 65% year-over-year worldwide.
Wet Seal gets $27 million default notice

Embattled teen retailer Wet Seal Inc. has defaulted on $27 million in senior convertible notes and related costs.

In a regulatory filing, Wet Seal said the total amount due is equal to $28.8 million, plus costs of collection, attorneys’ fees and disbursements.
Rite Aid sales surge 5.3%

Rite Aid Corp. says sales at stores open at least a year grew 5.3% in December, boosted again by strengthening pharmacy sales.

Same-store sales at the Camp Hill, Pa.-based retailer grew 5.3% to $2.2. billion, beating analyst consensus of 4.5% and reflecting a 1.7% increase in front-end same-store sales and a 7.3% increase in pharmacy same-store sales.
TechBytes: Three Technologies That Will Disrupt Retail in 2015

Last week, I took a look back at three technologies that disrupted retail in 2014. Now that we are kicking off the first work week of the New Year, it’s time to look ahead at three technologies likely to disrupt retail in 2015.

Wearables
Intel invests $25 million in wearable tech vendor

Santa Clara, Calif. - Intel Corp. has made a $24.8 million investment into Vuzix Corp., a provider of wearable display technology video eyewear and smart glasses products in the consumer, commercial and entertainment markets. Vuzix is focused on next-generation optics and displays that have the potential to fit in fashion-based wearable glasses.

Intel's investment will be used for general working capital to accelerate the introduction of Vuzix next generation fashion-based wearable display products into the consumer market.