News

Appliance, electronics and furniture retailer Hhgregg is getting a makeover. The brand transformation will encompass all customer touchpoints, including its 228 store locations and online presence. The first phase of hhgregg’s brand transformation launches this week.

Indianapolis -- Appliance, electronics and furniture retailer Hhgregg has embarked on a brand transformation across all customer touch-points, including its 228 store locations and online presence, in an effort to boost its shopping and purchasing experience.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreen Co. said that its same-store sales rose 7.6% in April, boosted by Easter-driven growth in front-end sales.

The company’s total sales rose 8.8% to $6.49 billion in the month of April, up from $5.96 billion in the same period of last year. Pharmacy sales accounted for 64.5% of total sales for April.

Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) president and CEO Pamela G. Bailey said that the association will honor retired Walmart president and CEO Mike Duke with the 2014 GMA Hall of Achievement Award, the organization’s highest honor, at its Leadership Forum Aug. 23 at The Broadmoor.

It has been about five months since the Target data breach made the vulnerability of retail POS data a hot topic. Investigation has since shown the Target breach did not involve POS terminals. However, high-profile thefts of customer payment card data from Target and other retailers including Neiman Marcus, Michaels and Sally Beauty Supply have highlighted the need for U.S. retailers to adopt the global Europass, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) standard for accepting payments from cards that store consumer information on secure embedded microchips, rather than on magnetic stripes.

Overstock.com is looking to improve its supply chain, and to that end the company has launched Supplier Oasis Fulfillment Services, a wholly owned subsidiary that provides multichannel fulfillment services.

New York -- Google is reportedly expanding its same-day Google Shopping Express service to Manhattan and Los Angeles, according to the New York Post.

The service strives to make same-day deliveries from Fairway, Walgreens, Target, Costco and other retailers to anyplace in Manhattan for $4.99 per store, the report states.

The article says that the service, first launched in San Francisco last year, will expand to Brooklyn and Queens in the coming months.

Staples is in the process of acquiring PNI Digital Media, a leading innovator in digital media solutions for retailers, for CDN$1.70 per share, representing a net equity value of approximately CDN$73.9 million.

The purchase share price represents a premium of 31.8% over the closing price of CDN$1.29 of the PNI shares May 2 on the Toronto Stock Exchange and a premium of 28.9% over the 30 day volume weighted average price of the PNI shares on the TSX for the period ended May 2.