News

CHICAGO — Cargill, an international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services, has unveiled an assessment tool that identifies, prioritizes and quantifies risks and opportunities in its supply chains so improvements can be made to them.

CHICAGO — Sara Lee Foodservice, a division of the Hillshire Brands Company, has introduced a line of products aimed at the kindergarten-12th grade education sector, focusing on turkey items for both breakfast and lunch.

Additionally, Sara Lee Foodservice will be participating in the United States Department of Agriculture Commodity Food Distribution Program that enables schools to purchase items at reduced prices.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Branded footwear and accessories retailer DSW recently leveraged social media to hold a contest encouraging existing and potential consumers to vote for nonprofit organizations nominated by DSW employees.

As part of the retailer's Shoe Lovers Care Leave Your Mark program, DSW employees nominated nearly 200 nonprofit organizations for the opportunity to win a grant. Finalists were selected by DSW and then presented via social media for public voting, which wrapped up in late June 2013.

Armonk, N.Y. -- Retailers and CPG companies with leading stock prices are more likely than their lagging competitors to use Big Data analytics to understand and adjust to customer needs. According to a study of 325 senior retail merchandising executives conducted by IBM Center for Applied Insights in conjunction with Planet Retail, 65% of leading retail merchandisers feel Big Data analytics is critical to their business compared to just 38% of other retail companies.

MT. PROSPECT, Ill. — A newly redesigned $100 bill designed to thwart the efforts of counterfeiters is due to hit the market in early October, creating new challenges for retailers.

In recent years, the United States government redesigned multiple banknotes to curb counterfeiting. As Cummins Allison, a leading innovator and provider of coin, currency and check handling solutions, explains, government officials are always looking for ways to stay one step ahead of those trying to forge U.S. currency.

FORT WORTH, Texas — RadioShack released a statement in which it contends its balance sheet remains strong, with total liquidity of $820 million at the end of the first quarter.

The retailer released the statement a day after reports said it was considering hiring a financial adviser as a result of debt maturities, bloated inventories and slumping sales.

Deerfield, Ill. – Walgreens is integrating its QuickPrints one-hour photo printing technology with the LifePics photo printing network. This means that LifePics users can now order photos through the LifePic mobile app, website or LifePic partner, and have them printed in an hour at any Walgreens store.

"With our more than 8,000 locations, we look forward to expanding printing options and services for this category," said Jasbir Patel, senior director of photo, daily living and omni-channel for Walgreens.

National Retail Federation SVP for government relations David French spoke to Fox News' Stuart Varney about D.C.’s decision to pass a living wage bill requiring non-union, big box retailers to pay their employees $12.60 per hour. As a result of the bill's passing, Walmart has scrapped plans to open three stores in the District. While defenders of the bill point out that the living wage is a fair one given cost of living and the still challeneging economic climate, Varney says the District, via its council members, is turning down 2,000 jobs and French agrees.