News

LAKELAND, Fla. — Publix on Friday recorded fiscal 2012 sales of $27.5 billion, up 1.9%. However, 2012 year-end sales included a 52-week period, versus 2011 year-end sales that were tracked over a 53-week period. Excluding that extra week, sales for 2012 would have been up by 3.8%. Same-store sales were up 2.2% for the year. 

BOSTON — Braintree has been named as a finalist for a 2013 Innovator Award in the category of Most Disruptive by PYMNTS.com.

ATLANTA — First Data, a provider of electronic commerce and payment processing, announced that it  is working with Foursquare to extend its already-successful Foursquare Specials for Credit Cards program to now accept Visa and MasterCard, and most debit cards. Foursquare has integrated the First DataSM OfferWiseSM solution that seamlessly allows users to sync their card, and then swipe at a participating merchant location to redeem offers and receive automatic savings.

AMSTERDAM — Keeping stores open during Hurricane Sandy was one of the factors that contributed to an increase in total store sales and comps in the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2012 for Ahold USA, the supermarket operator's Dutch parent company said Thursday.

Ahold attributed its 4.3% increase in sales in the fourth quarter, to $6.1 billion, partially to the Hurricane Sandy effort. The quarter also saw comps increase by 2.4%, while full year sales were $25.8 billion, a 3.1% over 2011, as comps increased by 1.4%.

BERKELEY, Calif. — Annie's Inc., a manufacturer of natural and organic food, announced that Lawrence (Larry) Peiros has been appointed to its board of directors effective immediately. David Behnke, a managing director at Najeti Ventures, resigned from the board to pursue other interests. Peiros was appointed to the Board to fill the vacancy. 

Dedham, Mass. -- iParty Corp., a leading party goods retailer with a strong presence in New England, has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Party City Holdings Inc., North America’s largest party supply retailer.

New York -- Publix Super Markets is interested in Harris Teeter Supermarkets, Bloomberg reported.

Royal Ahold, the Netherlands-based company that operates Stop & Shop, is also looking to making a bid for the North Carolina-based chain, according to various media reports.

Harris Teeter released a statement on Feb. 13 in which it said it hired JPMorgan to assist in holding talks with suitors after being approached by two buyout firms.

Minneapolis -- Best Buy Co. said that its loss narrowed in the fourth quarter, helped by improved U.S. sales. In a separate release, the company said that the deadline passed without it having received an acquisition offer from its co-founder, Richard Schulze, who had been considering making a bid for the chain.

“The company received no such offer and will continue to focus on its transformation for the benefit of all of its stakeholders,” Best Buy said in a statement.

Sixty percent of retailers with at least two years of negative comps turn them positive.

Here’s how. 

Two years of deep same-store sales declines can easily feel like a death sentence for most retailers. However, the data suggests it is indeed far from that. 

We analyzed all specialty retailers with sufficient public data over the last 20 years—nearly 70 retailers—and found that the majority of retailers who substantially underperformed the market ended up turning their comps positive in relatively short order. 

NEW YORK — Energizer is set to launch a new portfolio of lighting products this spring, the New York Times "Gadgetwise" blog reported today. The new line is expected to hit Target shelves in late March, followed by other mass merchandisers later on.