News

CHICAGO — One-in-five consumers between the ages of 35 years and 54 years are choosing products due to a loyalty card discount, SymphonyIRI Group reported Wednesday as part of its Q4 2012 MarketPulse survey. And almost one-third are forsaking their preferred brands due to a sale price. The survey found that shopper sentiment dropped to its lowest point since Q3 2011.

PURCHASE, N.Y. — Pepsi is giving fans a richer Grammy experience by partnering with The Recording Academy and entertainment platform Vevo, to create the "Best New Artist" video series.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target is giving "Twi-hards" an exclusive way to experience the final installment of the "Twilight" series with its offering of a three-disc deluxe edition DVD and exclusive two-disc deluxe edition Blu-Ray. Available only at Target stores on March 2 and for preorder at Target.com now, the exclusive Target version features more than 50 minutes of never-seen-before bonus content giving Twilight fans a new way to experience the saga.

Seattle -- Starbucks Corp. said its profit rose in its first quarter as customers spent more at its stores in the United States and Asia.

Starbucks earned $432.2 million in the quarter ended December 30, 2012, compared with $382.1 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 11% to $3.8 billion, slightly below expectations.

The company reported that global same-store sales rose 6%. In Europe, the metric fell 1%. Americas’ comparable store sales grew 7%. Same-store sales in the China/Asia Pacific region grew 11%.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot said Thursday it has extended its deadline for board nominations; the move comes after discussions with its largest shareholder Starboard Value were held.

The extension allows stockholders to nominate candidates until the close of business on Feb. 25.

Activist hedge fund Starboard has been pushing for changes at Office Depot, arguing that the company could improve profitability in part by reducing expense.

London -- Three cities in Germany are ranked the top five European markets for commercial real estate investment, according to a report by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Munich took the top spot in the report, “Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe 2013,” followed by Berlin, London, Istanbul and Hamburg. The ranking of 27 cities across Europe was based on respondents’ expectations for market performance in 2013.

New York -- In a Thursday report by the New York Post citing unnamed sources, the publication said that J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson is pushing some of its vendors to inflate their pricing so that the department store’s retail pricing appears lower than it actually is.

Sources told The Post that the plan includes putting up signs and fixturing to display fabricated retail pricing, while the merchandise is then tagged with J.C. Penney’s own lower prices.

New Delhi -- According to a Thursday report by Reuters, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is examining the conditions around India’s decision to allow supermarkets to open stores in the country.

Boston -- Popular jewelry retailer Alex and Ani implemented a mobile point-of-sale application that all but eliminated customer lines and helped increase sales by 318% over the previous holiday season, Mobiquity announced.

Tampa, Fla. -- Applied Data Corp. said Wednesday that regional grocery chain Carlie C’s has selected ADC’s – a provider of fresh item management, recipe management, and scales management software – InterScale Scales Management Software system.