News

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — "Modern Family" star, Sofia Vergara, is expanding her brand at Kmart with the launch of a new, exclusive home collection. The actress' apparel line launched at Kmart and on Kmart.com in the fall of 2011.

WAYNE, N.J. — Babies“R”Us is offering customers a new way to support military moms-to-be through a partnership with Operation Shower, an organization that hosts baby showers for military wives to ease the stress of their husbands’ deployment. The retailer has launched Babiesrus.com/OperationShower, which will serve as an online information portal, where visitors can learn how they can support this charitable program and ensure that military moms-to-be, who are often far away from friends and family, receive basic essentials for their newborns.

CINCINNATI — Kroger announced that it has kicked off a sales event during May that will support the broad range of programs and services the United Service Organizations provides to service members, their families and veterans.

SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif. — Weber Logistics, a third party logistics company in the Western United States, has named former Target human resources manager, Sheila Jordan, as its new VP human resources. Jordan will report to Weber’s CEO, Harry Drajpuch, and be responsible for all human resource-related activities, including hiring, training, associate development and administration, for employees across Weber’s 17 distribution centers and freight terminals.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe's continues to implement its customer-focused strategy with the creation of new executive roles. The company has created a customer experience division that will be led by Gregory Bridgeford, chief customer officer, who is responsible for creating customer experiences that will best serve customers and differentiate Lowe’s from its competitors.

Reporting to Bridgeford are:

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Kohl's has added athletic merchandise from Fila to its exclusive of Kohl's Care collection. Available now through the end of July, the collection offers chic and stylish athletic apparel, accessories and gifts which can be found in all 40 Wisconsin Kohl's stores and online at Kohls.com, with 100% of the net profit donated to support the fight against breast cancer, the company said.

Has anyone else noticed that more and more consumers seem to be “cross-shopping” than ever before? I’m talking about those people who shop both the high-end luxury retailers and the discount or even dollar stores. I recently read an article that indicated one-quarter of all Nordstrom shoppers also shop at the Dollar Store. And, I started to ask myself if this trend is here to stay.
 

Cary, N.C. -- C-store operator The Pantry said Tuesday that it lost $9.7 million in the second quarter, compared with a loss of $300,000 in the same period last year. Results were hurt by rising gas prices.

Same-store merchandise sales rose 4.8%
 

Oak Brook, Ill. -- McDonald’s Corp. said Tuesday that same-store sales on the global front rose 3.3% in April, led by European results (up 3.5%) but followed closely by the United States. (up 3.3%).

Japan dragged down Asia results (up 1.1%).
 

Mooresville, N.C. -- Lowe’s Home Improvement said Tuesday that its home improvement app is now available for Android devices.

The app can be downloaded at Google Play, Google's new online store for digital media. Customers now may shop directly from the free app; access their MyLowe’s account; locate stores and view how-to videos, inspirational galleries and product ratings.