News

Pittsburgh -- First Insight, which provides predictive analytics generated from online consumer engagements, announced an agreement with The Limited. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The First Insight solution uses online social engagement tools to gather real-time preference, pricing and sentiment data on new products. This information is filtered through First Insight’s predictive analytic models to determine which products present the greatest opportunity.

New York -- Lower cotton costs will boost the earnings of US retail apparel companies during the coming back-to-school season, according to a report by Moody's Investors Service.

The report, "Back to School: Lower Cotton Costs, Gas Prices Set Stage for Higher 3Q Earnings,” notes that for the third quarter overall, Moody's expects the apparel-makers' growth in earnings to outpace their growth in sales.

Safeway has opened the first LEED for Retail certified store in the state of Montana, in the town of Bozeman. The $12 million, 58,000-sq.-ft. store is one of approximately just 200 LEED certified grocery stores in the United States.

New York -- Sycamore Partners extended its tender offer to buy The Talbots Inc. to Aug. 2. It is the second extension given by Sycamore to the retailer.

The private equity firm said in May that it would buy Talbots for $193.3 million. The tender offer was previously scheduled to expire at 5 p.m. ET on July 27.

San Francisco -- Williams-Sonoma has named Julie Whalen as permanent CFO. Whalen replaces Sharon McCollam, who retired in March. Whalen had been serving as acting CFO since McCollam retired.

Whalen joined Williams-Sonoma, which operates namesake stores, Pottery Barn, West Elm, and other stores, in 2001 and has served in a variety of positions, including treasurer.

New York -- Seven Walmart stores in Missouri were evacuated after receiving bomb threats but no explosives were found and no injuries were reported, according to Reuters.

The threats were called in late on Friday to stores in Raytown, Gladstone, Jefferson City, Nixa, St. Peters and Ozark, the report said.

Burlington, Mass. -- OrderMotion, a web-based platform for direct-to-consumer (D2C) campaign and order management, announced that Midwest consumer goods retailer Alco Stores selected OrderMotion's OMX platform as the back-office technology best suited to grow with its online volume demands while also leveraging its Magento eCommerce front-end system.  

Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Taubman Centers, Inc. has officially broken ground on its new Taubman Prestige Outlets Chesterfield project by hosting a groundbreaking ceremony on July 27.

As part of the ceremony, Taubman revealed a variety of store names that will make their debuts at the new outlet mall, among them Banana Republic Factory Store, Gap Outlet, J. Crew Factory, Brooks Brothers Factory Store, 2b Bebe, American Eagle Outfitters - Off Campus, and Sunglass Hut.

PITTSBURGH — GNC recently extended its relationship with Sam's Club, the company announced in conjunction with its second-quarter results.

Beginning in third quarter 2012, GNC's presence in all Sam's Club locations will incorporate established shelf space with branded signage, adding to the existing rotational assortment program.

Walmart is used to encountering opposition to its new stores, just not in its own backyard.

However, that is what’s been happening in the sprawling master planned community of Bella Vista, Ark., where residents, some of them anyway, are up in arms over a planned Walmart Neighborhood Market. They say the location of the proposed stores is a poor choice and the 24-hour store with four gas pumps will bring additional traffic to an already busy road.