News

ORLANDO, Fla. — Macy’s has enjoyed strong sales momentum during the early part of this year with first-quarter same-store sales up 5.4% and the second quarter off to an even stronger start with May comps up 7.4%. There are a lot of reasons for those results, but several key supply chain initiatives have made important contributions and were recognized recently at the annual VICS Collaborative Commerce Achievement Awards.

MINNEAPOLIS — ValueVision Media, a premium interactive retailer via TV, Internet, mobile and social media, operating under the "ShopNBC" brand, announced that Nathan Martin, has been appointed VP fulfillment.

Martin joins ShopNBC with nearly two decades of manufacturing and distribution experience. Most recently, he served as assistant general manager at United Stationers Supply Company. Previously, he held management positions at Cost Plus, QVC, and Verbatim Memory Corporation.

Target isn’t off to a great start in the second quarter- with a same store sale increase of 2.8% that was toward the low end of the company’s guidance range that called for a low to mid-single digit increase. The company also fell short of its comp guidance in April.

A lot of companies are content to conduct their annual meetings in a hotel ballroom near their headquarters, but not Target. This year the retailer and its senior executives are schlepping east to Pittsburgh where the company’s annual meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 8 at 1:30 p.m. at a store located about five miles east of downtown Pittsburgh at 6231 Penn Avenue. According to the company, “This location allows us to showcase our current general merchandise store design in the latter stages of construction prior to opening.”

It’s the time of year when retailers engage in the annual Dads and Grads promotional extravaganza, and Target is promoting the Apple iPad at $499 as a gift-giving solution.

The iPad appeared on a full-page ad in this week’s circular along with other Apple products such as the iPhone 4 and the iPod Touch.

Not that dads and grads wouldn’t want an iPad, and it never hurts to feature an item that shoppers can aspire to, but the iPad would appear to be out of the price range of most gift-givers, especially where Father’s Day is concerned.

Atlanta -- Manhattan Associates was honored as the "Best Third Party Provider" at the Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Solutions Association Awards, for its strategic thinking and leadership that has resulted in high-impact supply chain practices and partnerships. Manhattan was selected based on its partnership with Macy's, providing solutions from the Manhattan SCOPE solution suite that have supported the growth of the leading retailer's direct-to-consumer business.

New York City -- Children's clothing retailer Hartstrings L.L.C., owned by Maryland private-equity firm American Capital L.P., has declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The company, which has 28 stores and a wholesale operation, plans to dissolve the business.

The filing comes a year after the company entered into an agreement with television personality Tori Spelling to develop a children's clothing line under the Little Maven label.

New York City -- Office Depot has reached an agreement with Colorado’s attorney general to offer a refund to about 115 Colorado governmental agencies and nonprofits in connection with the sale of office supplies between January 2006 and March 2009, the Denver Business Journal reported.

The agreement calls for the chain to refund customers as much as $189,000.

Thinking of opening a store on Manhattan’s Fifth Ave? Be prepared to shell out some hefty rent. The average rent for space along Fifth Avenue’s prime stretch from 49th Street up to 59th Street hit $1,900 per square foot in the first quarter, according to the latest CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Global Retail MarketView. The second-highest U.S. retail market? Los Angeles, with rents of $520 per square foot.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — May proved to be a good month for Walgreens, as the drug store chain posted a total sales jump of 7% to nearly $6.1 billion.

Walgreens reported that its total front-end sales experienced a 5.5% increase, while comparable front-end sales realized a 3.6% increase.