News

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ EVP and CFO Jim Huber is retiring after 25 years of service.

He will be succeeded by David Fitzsimmons, who has been promoted to SVP of finance and administration, effective December 21. Fitzsimmons currently serves as VP of finance and accounting.

Warburg Pincus has acquired a majority ownership stake in Crossmark, a leading provider of sales and marketing services to retailers and suppliers.

The companies said they entered into a definitive merger agreement whereby Warburg Pincus will make a majority investment of an undisclosed amount in Crossmark that allows for the management owners of the company to maintain a significant equity position and continue to actively lead the company after the transaction closes.

NORTH BERGEN, N.J. — The Vitamin Shoppe will buy a Pacific Northwest-based supplement chain, the New Jersey-based company said.

The Vitamin Shoppe said it would buy Super Supplements for $50 million. Super Supplements operates 31 stores in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, and the Vitamin Shoppe said the acquisition would expand its presence in the Northwest, where it already operates 17 stores. The transaction is expected to close on Dec. 31.

New York -- A report released by ShopperTrak on Wednesday revealed a downwardly revised holiday forecast indicating a 2.5% year-over-year sales increase.

According to ShopperTrak, although week-over-week numbers improved, year-over-year statistics are stumbling. For the weekend ended Dec. 15, retail foot traffic rose 15.1% week-over-week, and sales increased 16.4% week-over-week.

But, in year-over-year comparisons, foot traffic declined 4.4% and sales declined 4.3%.

Arlington, Va. -- In a letter sent Wednesday, Retail Industry Leaders Association president Sandy Kennedy asked President Obama to take action to prevent a work stoppage at the East and Gulf Coast ports.

Negotiations on Dec. 18 did not produce a resolution between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, foreshadowing a shutdown of the Eastern and Gulf ports by the end of the year.

New York – The Chase Holiday Pulse, released on Wednesday, shows that “Green Week” – from Dec. 10 to Dec. 16 – was the busiest seven-day period of the holiday shopping season in terms of transaction volume this year.  

Online merchants saw high shopping volume – year-over-year sales and transaction for the same period were up 10.7% and 16.6% respectively – throughout the week as consumers acted to utilize free delivery offers before the holidays.

Dublin, Calif. -- Epicor Software Corp. said Wednesday that A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts has selected and implemented the company’s Retail Customer Relationship Management solution to strengthen customer relations and support future loyalty/reward initiatives.

By Brett Conradt, [email protected]

Mobile payments have been growing impressively, but recent estimates suggest they represent less than 1% of total global retail sales. Many retail executives may be wondering whether the technology is worth investing in right now. Before getting into the issues to consider, let’s start with some background.

New York – Jan. 3 promises to be the longest day of the year for UPS employees as they process a record level of returns to retailers.

Burlington, Mass. -- On-demand e-commerce solution-provider Demandware said Wednesday that Pier 1  Imports has delivered the initial phases of its omnichannel strategy, which includes its new e-commerce-enabled Pier1.com website (launched in July 2012), and its mobile commerce site, both of which are run on the Demandware Commerce platform.

Pier 1 Imports now benefits from an enterprise-class, software-as-a-service platform that serves as the digital commerce backbone to connect consumers to its brand regardless of location, device or channel.