News

By Michael Moores, [email protected]

Matthews, N.C. -- Family Dollar Stores Inc. reported Thursday that profit for the quarter ended May 26 rose 12.1% to $124.5 million, compared with $111.1 million in the year-ago period.

Sales increased 9.6% to $2.36 billion, just missing Wall Street’s forecasts of $2.37 billion in sales. Same-store sales climbed 5%.
   

New York -- The U.S. Supreme has just ruled that, while the individual mandate to buy health insurance is unconstitutional, this key part of President Obama’s signature healthcare law can stay as part of Congress’s power under a taxing clause.

In other words, the Supreme Court says that the government will be allowed to tax people for not having health insurance.

WAYNE, N.J. — Toys"R"Us has enhanced its loyalty program with the launch of an all-new integrated, point-based system that delivers streamlined benefits for members, as well as new and existing "R"Uscredit card holders.

MINNEAPOLIS — Food distribution company Nash Finch has named Gary Spinazze as chair of the NFC Foundation for a two-year term. The NFC Foundation is the charitable giving arm of Nash Finch. Board member Paula Docken, business analyst, chair of the community outreach committee was named as chair elect.

NEW YORK — A growing number of shoppers are using their smartphones to help them make in-store purchases. According to new Deloitte research, smartphones currently influence 5.1% of annual retail store sales, translating into $159 billion in forecasted sales for 2012, according to new Deloitte research. 

Deloitte arrived at its 5.1% figure by examining in-store sales driven by consumers' store-related smartphone activity such as product research, price comparison or other mobile application use.

Launching new products is difficult in the best of times, but winners of the 2012 Nielsen Breakthrough Innovation Award found ways to succeed during one the worst recessions in a generation.

Nielsen announced recipients of the awards at its annual Consumer 360 event in Hollywood, Fla., this week after analyzing more than 11,000 new products in the United States between 2008 and 2010. Of the products evaluated, only 34 met award criteria. These products comprise less than 0.5% of all new product introductions during the period.

WABAN, Mass. — Publix, Hy-Vee, H.E.B., Sam's Club, ShopRite, Aldi, Giant Eagle and JCPenney were among the highest-rated companies for customer service, according to new research from the Temkin Group.

Other companies earning top marks included Chick-fil-A, credit unions and Starbucks. Meanwhile, companies with the lowest ratings included Charter Communications, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Citibank, Qwest, Cigna, and Bank of America.

ATLANTA — RedPrairie, a global supply chain and retail technology provider, has released its RedPrairie Commerce Suite 2012.1, a scalable suite of solutions that help retailers generate sales and customer loyalty by creating seamless and dynamic all-channel shopping experiences, with a 360-degree view of orders, merchandise and customer behavior, and integration with RedPrairie fulfillment solutions, the company said.

LOS ANGELES — Walmart is offering its customers more ways to connect with the availability of a new prepaid mobile broadband service from TruConnect Mobile.

Walmart is now the exclusive provider of Internet on the Go, powered by the MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot and a service plan from TruConnect with no monthly fee and where the data balance never expires (if used once a year). This is different from other low-cost prepaid monthly services where unused megabytes are wasted at the end of the month – potentially driving up the cost.