News

CINCINNATI — Procter & Gamble has issued more conservative guidance for its quarter ending in June and unveiled preliminary guidance for fiscal year 2013.

Speaking at the Deutsche Bank Global Consumer Conference in Paris, P&G board chairman, president and CEO Bob McDonald said, "We are making the necessary adjustments to our growth strategy to increase focus on our core business and to achieve more balanced growth across geographies, product categories and the top and bottom lines."

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Sheets, makers of dissolvable energy strips, has partnered with Walmart and Pitbull to launch a local Facebook page contest among local Walmart stores, to offer customers the chance to win a visit by Mr. Worldwide.

LOS ANGELES — TruConnect Mobile LLC has launched a new prepaid mobile broadband service called Internet on the Go, exclusively at Walmart.

The new offering features 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.

MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu's Essential Everyday private-label line will include 2,700 products across more than 100 categories by 2013.

Essential Everyday products, which are available at approximately 3,300 stores nationwide — including Supervalu's family of stores — currently features more than 1,200 items across more than 40 categories. The expanded Essential Everyday brand lineup was introduced in New York last week by chef and cookbook author Antonia Lofaso.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Stein Mart shareholders have re-elected the following people to the company's board of directors:

Jay Stein, Ralph Alexander, Alvin R. Carpenter, Irwin Cohen, Susan Falk, Linda M. Farthing, Mitchell W. Legler, Robert L. Mettler, Richard L. Sisisky, Martin E. Stein, Jr. and John H. Williams, Jr. Each will serve one year terms

The phrase “big data,” is all the rage these days and IBM made a major move to drive growth.

Unilever president of customer development, Joe Cavaliere, is the newest addition to the board of the Retail Industry Leaders Association.

The trade group’s board held its semi-annual meeting earlier this week and elected Cavaliere and re-elected PetSmart president and CEO Bob Moran and IBM’s general manager for the retail industry Karen Lowe.

New York -- J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson is taking over direct responsibility for marketing in the wake of the departure of Michael Francis, who left the company abruptly on Monday, Women’s Wear Daily reported.

Speculation has been raging about the reasons behind Francis’ sudden exit after just eight months on the job. In the article, Johnson blamed it on the fact that J.C. Penney’s marketing had not resonated with its core customer and that he “had to get involved.”

By Ed Weiser, motorolasolutions.com/mobilePOS

On a recent trip to an electronics store, I found myself contemplating the art of the sale – or more accurately, the digital technology that really drives the sale. While browsing, I overheard a woman discussing the features and benefits of several digital cameras with a sales associate. The exchange seemed pleasant enough and the associate helped her select a camera that best fit her needs.

Los Angeles -- TruConnect Mobile LLC announced it has partnered with Walmart Stores to deliver a new prepaid mobile broadband service called Internet on the Go.

The new offering, which is exclusively sold at Walmart, features 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.