News

New York — More than eight in 10 (83%) consumers prefer shopping in traditional grocery stores. However, a new survey of more than 1,000 consumers from PwC, “Front of the Line: How Grocers Can Get Ahead for the Future,” indicates more than half of the shoppers surveyed complained of long lines and crowded stores.

Durango, Calif. — Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (RMCF) is providing PCI compliance and security management services to 280-plus franchised RMCF locations using the Cybera One platform. RMCF sought a comprehensive network security solution to facilitate cost-effective PCI Security Council data security standards (DSS) compliance, as well as a solution that could ease implementation and management challenges and protect brand identity.

Burlington, N.J. — Burlington Stores Inc. had an all-around strong first quarter of fiscal 2014 that included a better-than-expected net income of %11.77 million, up from a net loss of $5.56 million in year-ago period. The retailer expects to open 25 net new stores during the fiscal year, including the opening of one new store and closing of one existing store in the second quarter.

As the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the industry, Ace Hardware knows plenty about paint. But it turns out it may also know a thing or two about nail color. In the first-ever collaboration of its kind, Ace Hardware has partnered with nail lacquer brand OPI to create an exclusive color palette by Clark+Kensington, Ace’s premium paint line.

The new color palette will launch this month in more than 3,200 Ace Hardware stores nationwide and offer consumers the opportunity to adopt their favorite nail lacquer colors as part of their home décor.

A new app from Seattle-based Shoppost bills itself as the first in-stream e-commerce app that lets online retailers sell via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+.

Shoppost is a free app that gathers product information and pulls it into an interactive post that can be shared via social channels in a few clicks. The app is available for free to sellers who use BigCommerce and Shopify with additional e-commerce platform support rolling out in the near future, according to the company.

San Luis Obispo, Calif. — Shopatron, a provider of cloud-based distributed order management solutions, is releasing a free inventory visibility API. Shopatron Retailer Inventory Lookup is a cloud-based solution that offers enterprise-wide inventory visibility and also provides retailers with actionable analytics to improve in-store operations, stocking, merchandising and product marketing.

The solution enables retailers to instantly connect customers with local, available inventory.

Burlington Stores president and CEO Tom Kingsbury has the operator of 523 stores headed in the right direction with an off-price model that is delivering results and poised for expansion.

Houston — Francesca’s Holdings Corp. on Tuesday reported a 21% drop in profit during the first quarter of fiscal 2014, to $8.6 million from $10.9 million.  Harsh winter weather and higher expenses related to its boutique business contributed to the decline in net income. The company also reduced its annual outlook.

Francesca’s plans to open 85 new stores during fiscal 2014, including 16 in the second quarter.