News

LOS ANGELES — Among those that have shopping-related applications on their smartphone, most of them will use this method to help save money when purchasing gifts this holiday season, according to a new PriceGrabber survey.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — During Lowe's annual conference Tuesday, SVP marketing and advertising Tom Lamb defined the company's target customer by first breaking down home improvement consumers into four distinct groups.

Lowe's target, he said, is on the two largest spending groups, together called "creators."

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Sam's Club announced that Eddie Matney, Reinaldo Alfonso and Michael Vlasich have joined the company's Simply Delicious Chef Brigade, a team of all-star restaurant chefs who creatively use one ingredient in multiple dishes as inspiration for everyday cooking.

"I know half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, but I can never find out which half."

 – John Wanamaker, Department Store Tycoon and Marketing Pioneer of the early 20th Century

“There is an online privacy war going on, and without help, consumers will lose.”

– Chris Calabrese, Legislative Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union

By Tom Mullaney, [email protected]

Mooresville, N.C. — At its annual conference in Mooresville, N.C., held Tuesday, Lowe's executives are prepared to talk growth and the transformation from retailer to a "home improvement company."

Philadelphia — Comparable sales for the third quarter took a slight dip at The Pep Boys due to continued weakness in the company's retail segment. The company reported that comparable sales fell 0.4%, consisting of a 0.4% comparable service revenue increase and a 0.6% comparable merchandise sales decrease. Total sales increased 5.2% to $522.2 million, from $496.4 million for the same period last year.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — Tractor Supply Company announced Monday that Alexander Stanton has been appointed as SVP supply chain and Christine Skold has been appointed as VP investor relations, strategy and tractor value system. 

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. — Ikea announced that it plans to install solar energy panels on ten additional United States locations. Pending governmental permits, installation can begin this winter, with completion expected in summer 2012, the company said. Collectively, the nine stores and one distribution center will total 10.7 Megawatts (MW) of solar generating capacity, nearly 45,360 panels, and a projected annual electricity output of 15,248,334 kilowatt hours (kWh).

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer is taking up the latest retail trend to offer home delivery of fresh-cut Christmas trees.

The company began shipping fresh-cut Fraser fir Christmas trees on Thanksgiving Day, and sales have exceeded expectations within the first few days, announced Liwanag Ojala, VP e-commerce for the Grand Rapids, Mich. -based retailer.