News

E-commerce was labeled Walmart’s next growth engine by Neil Ashe, the retailer’s president and CEO of global e-commerce during an investor presentation Wednesday morning.

NEW YORK — Macy’s will honor contributions made by Asian-Pacific Americans during Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month this May at select Macy’s locations nationwide. 

The retailer will host the platinum-selling recording group Far East Movement for a series of performances and appearances in six markets across the country geared toward highlighting and celebrating the unique influence of Asian-Pacific Americans on American culture and pop music.

LAKELAND, Fla. — Publix posted first quarter sales of $7.5 billion, representing a 6.1% increase. The Easter holiday in the first quarter of 2013, which was in the second quarter of 2012, increased sales by approximately 1.3%, the grocer noted. 

Comparable-store sales for the first quarter of 2013 increased 3.9%.

BOSTON & ORRVILLE, Ohio — A collaboration between Life is good Company and J.M. Smucker Company will bring a line of coffee products to retail shelves throughout North America.

During the Spectrum Brands second-quarter earnings call, the Madison, Wis.-based company showed interest in bringing back some offshore production. 

Responding to a question about the rising costs of wages and freight for overseas small appliance manufacturing, Spectrum Brands CEO David Lumley said: “We are looking at that.”

He added that a first opportunity might be for North America manufacturing — Mexico or the Caribbean.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — The year appears to be off to a good start and CVS Caremark executives were optimistic Wednesday morning as the company pulled in a “strong” first quarter and narrowed its 2013 guidance to reflect higher-than-expected performance.

In the 18 months since I joined the National Retail Federation, I’ve been struck repeatedly by how rapidly our industry continues to evolve. As we all know, retail has always changed and adapted — and in just the past 20 years we’ve advanced from then-radical game changer Amazon.com to more recent models like Hointer, which boasts what amounts to online shopping in a store. 

Following the second warmest retail May in 2012, this year will trend colder, especially across the Eastern half of the nation. Colder temperatures in the East will cause a dip in year-over-year demand for seasonal products like apparel, sun care, cold beverages, lawn and garden supplies, ice cream and fans/air conditioners. May 2013 is setting up to be a more active month for severe weather than last year with the highest risk periods in early May and again during retail week three. Localized demand for chainsaws and other clean-up products will be needed in the South and Midwest.

GREENWICH, Conn. — Brynwood Partners’ portfolio company, Pearson Candy Company, has acquired the Bit-O-Honey confectionery brand from Nestle. The acquisition marks the fifth brand Brynwood Partners has acquired from Nestle. Terms and conditions of the transaction were not disclosed.

The Bit-O-Honey national brand has been around for more than 90 years and is available in a variety of formats, which are widely distributed in the U.S. through leading retailers in the food, drug, mass and dollar channels.

LOS ANGELES — Guess has appointed former Victoria’s Secret executive Sharleen Ernster Lazear as chief design officer, overseeing all product categories for the Guess brands. She will report to CEO Paul Marciano.