News

With rising expectations that Walmart’s sales for the recently ended second quarter will be weak when it reports on August 15, the company once again has naysayers doubting its growth prospects with some questioning its long-term viability.

CAMDEN, N.J. — Campbell Soup Company continues expanding its brands portfolio with its acquisition of Kelsen Group A/S, a producer of baked snacks, including the Kjeldsens and Royal Dansk brands, sold in 85 countries around the world.

Based in Nørre Snede, Denmark, Kelsen is a market leader in the assortment segment of the sweet biscuits category in China and Hong Kong, where growth in sweet biscuits is outpacing the growth of the $60 billion global sweet biscuits market.

FORT WORTH, Texas — RadioShack has unveiled a new “low touch” concept store format at the Manhattan Mall in New York and at Plaza Las Americas in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, and plans to open another in downtown Fort Worth in October.

There is a euphoria surrounding Amazon and the moves the company is making these days that is reminiscent of the phase Walmart went through in earlier decades when it was viewed as the ascendant growth company that could do no wrong. Supercenter expansion was rampant and Walmart was viewed as the company that was going to dominate everything it touched.

CHICAGO — The Quaker Oats Center of Excellence has established a scientific advisory board and an online hub for resources and oat research. Developed in 2012 by the Quaker Oats Company, the Quaker Oats Center of Excellence explores the relevance and benefits of oats through science, agricultural sustainability and innovation.

Newly appointed advisory board members were selected due to their extensive experience within their fields and will be called upon to share knowledge, information and insights based on their areas of expertise:

Doubling sales in any category within a four year time span would be an audacious goal for any retailer, but that was the objective Walmart set for itself in the beer category last fall, according to Bloomberg.

Gap Inc. continues to enjoy momentum at its namesake Gap stores and Old Navy units which pushed total company results up 8% to nearly $3.9 billion.

Results were strongest at Gap and Old Navy stores where comps increase 6% while Banana Republic comps declined 1%.

“We are pleased with our second quarter performance overall, and we’re focused on continuing our momentum as we move into the second half of the year,” said Glenn Murphy, chairman and CEO of Gap Inc.

In one of the stranger situations in retail right now, J.C. Penney is defending itself against charges by activist investor Bill Ackman that it’s not moving fast enough to hire a full time CEO and remedy a situation that Ackman created when the guy he picked nearly destroyed the company.

New York -- Ralph Lauren Corp. reported Wednesday that profit for the quarter ended June 29 dipped 6% to $181 million, compared with $193 million in the year-ago period.

Sales edge up 4% in the period, to $1.61 billion, but missed Wall Street’s estimated $1.65 billion in revenue. Same-store sales slipped 1%.

The fashion retailer has issued a cautious sales outlook, projecting a low-single-digit increase in current quarter revenue from last year’s $1.86 billion.

By Adam Siegel, VP sustainability and retail operations, Retail Industry Leaders Association [email protected]