News

Brita has become an official supporter of the collaboration launched by the Partnership for a Healthier America and its honorary chair, First Lady Michelle Obama, to encourage everyone to drink water more often.  

Matthews, N.C. -- Family Dollar Stores announced that it has named Jeffrey W. Macak to the position of executive VP–supply chain.

For the last 13 years, Macak has served as VP-global supply chain for Bed Bath & Beyond, where he was responsible for the supply chain, logistics and distribution of goods for the company and its subsidiaries.

New York -- McDonald’s is testing a mobile order and payment application in Austin, Texas, and Salt Lake City, Bloomberg News reported.

Monroe, Mich. -- La-Z-Boy Inc. announced it intends to acquire three La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores located in the Las Vegas market, with combined revenue of approximately $11 million. Included in the transaction are two stores in Las Vegas, and one in Henderson.

Sandpoint, Idaho -- Coldwater Creek Inc. narrowed its second quarter loss to $16.4 million from a year-earlier loss of $17.6 million.

Revenue was down 8.5% to $149.7 million, below the $163 million estimate from analysts. Same-store sales fell 7.3%.

President and CEO Jill Dean said sales were lower than planned in the latest period largely due to a deceleration in traffic in July.

Philadelphia -- The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack reported net earnings of $5.4 million for the second quarter, down from $33 million in the year-ago quarter.

Sales for the quarter increased 0.4% to $527.6 million, from $525.7 million for the prior-year quarter. Same-store sales dipped 1.3%.

The company is looking for heavier consumer demand for tires to help turn around disappointing net earnings and same-store sales trends during the second quarter of fiscal 2013.  

Ankeny, Iowa -- Casey’s General Stores, Inc. reported impressive performance for its fiscal first quarter, with net income up 43% to $55.7 million, from $39 million.

Net revenue increased 10.5% to $2.1 billion, from $1.9 billion. The company credited strong sales in all categories, especially gasoline, with driving its performance.

Corte Madera, Calif. -- Restoration Hardware Holdings reported a net loss  of $17.8 million for the second quarter, compared with net income of $17.6 million in the same quarter a year earlier, due to charges linked to stock awards given to chairman and co-CEO Gary Friedman.

Net revenues for the second quarter of fiscal 2013 increased 30% to $382.1 million from $292.9 million last year.

New York – Abercrombie & Fitch has extended its contract with GT Nexus to expand its cloud supply chain strategy and improve visibility into the movement of orders, payments and goods. The retailer has automated its procure-to-pay process in the cloud using GT Nexus to create a transparent workflow environment for purchase orders, invoices, amendments and settlements.

Since 2010, Abercrombie & Fitch has used the GT Nexus platform to support international sourcing and supplier collaboration.

New York -- The planned merger between Saks Inc. and Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) took another step forward with the expiration of the 40-day “go shop” period for Saks on Sept. 6. As previously disclosed, the merger agreement entered into on July 28, 2013 between Saks and HBC contained a 40-day “go-shop” period during which Saks was permitted to solicit alternative proposals from third parties.