News

New York -- From mobile devices to social media to 24/7 connectivity, it’s a brave new world for retail — and one that Chain Store Age will explore at its first-ever Customer Disruption event, May 7-9, 2014, at Sofitel Hotel, Redwood Shores, Calif., the Gateway to the Silicon Valley.

Teen and tween retailer Five Below blamed the weather for what it expects will be a substantial shortfall in fourth quarter same store sales.

For the nine week period ended Jan. 9, same store sales had declined 0.5% and by the end of the company’s fourth quarter same store sales may decline as much as 1.5%, according to the company. That is well below guidance of a 4% increase the company forecast when it released third quarter results.

New York -- Former Barnes & Noble executive Jamie Iannone has been appointed president and CEO of Samsclub.com in a restructuring that integrates Sam’s Club’s online business into the Walmart’s Global eCommerce business unit based in California. Previously, most of the warehouse club’s online business was run separately out of the retailer’s headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.

Overstock has announced that it now accepts Bitcoin as a form of payment on its online shopping site.

When customers shop the website they will find the digital currency listed as a payment choice along with Visa, MasterCard and PayPal.

The few blocks surrounding the Honolulu intersection of Kalakaua and Ka’iulani Avenues boasts the highest pedestrian traffic in the world-renowned Waikiki retail district. The count exceeds 22,000 visitors per day. And it is rising as recovering international economies enable tourists from around the world — and especially from the Asia-Pacific countries of Japan, China and South Korea — to respond to the beckoning call of Hawaii’s Big Island of Oahu.

Men’s grooming line, HYD For Men, has announced that its Razor Shield will be sold in 183 Meijer stores beginning in February.

Razor Shield was developed to help create a liquid barrier to protect razor blades.
 

Lakeland, Fla. -- Publix Super Markets Inc. has expanded its Teradata Active Enterprise Data Warehouse to accommodate growth and more complex analytics. The upgrade moves the data warehouse functionality beyond traditional strategic analysis and into tactical operational intelligence.

The expansion includes the latest Teradata Active Enterprise Data Warehouse platform, database software, and services. The new platform is designed to enable quicker reaction and response to changing business conditions and consumer behavior.