News

J.C. Penney’s back-to-school marketing campaign aims to celebrate self-expression the way it’s done nowadays: with selfies.

Customers are invited to visit the retailer’s back-to-school online hub, jcpenney.com/bts, where they can create a personalized emoji that resembles them. Users can customize their emoji with accessories and hairstyles and post it side-by-side with their selfie, to share with friends as well as on J.C. Penny’s "Express Yourselfie" online gallery.

Rising commodity costs and expense pressures prompted Hershey to announce an 8% increase in wholesale prices as it looks to maintain profitability in 2014 and beyond.

Washington, D.C. -- The House has passed legislation broadening a federal tax law that makes it cheaper for retailers to remodel their stores, the National Retail Federation said.

Lawmakers voted 258-160 today to make “bonus depreciation” permanent, and granted NRF’s request that it be expanded to include stores that are owned rather than just those that are leased. The measure now heads to the Senate.

Families this summer will spend slightly more on back-to-school items than they did in 2013. According to NRF’s 2014 Back-to-School Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, the average family with children in grades K-12 will spend $669.28 on apparel, shoes, supplies and electronics, up 5% from $634.78 in 2013.

Seven hundred and fifty tons of plastic wrap — the equivalent of 1.5 million pounds — have been saved by Walmart China as a result of a simple change to warehouse operations.

The plastic savings were realized after Walmart developed a new system that involved reusable canvas belts to secure merchandise on pallets, thereby eliminating the need for one-time use plastic wrap. The canvas belt system is now in use at nine of Walmart’s distribution centers in China.

San Mateo, Calif. - NetSuite Inc. a provider of cloud-based financials, ERP and omnichannel commerce software suites is acquiring London-based Venda, a provider of e-commerce solutions for an undisclosed amount. NetSuite says its acquisition of Venda builds on the momentum of NetSuite SuiteCommerce globally and supports NetSuite’s business expansion into the European market.

GoJo Industries, the makers of Purell Advanced Hand Sanitizer, have issued a challenge to consumers to adopt 30 days of healthy habits by joining the Purell Advanced 30-Day Challenge.