News

NEW YORK — Wal-Mart Stores said that by the end of the year it will have invested the equivalent of approximately $756 million to expand its operations in Brazil.

Marcos Samaha, president of Wal-Mart's Brazilian subsidiary, said in a Tuesday statement that 1.2 billion reals ($755 million) will be used to build 80 stores, renovate existing locations and improve logistics.

YORK, Pa. — The Bon-Ton Stores and menswear designer John Bartlett unveiled on April 27 the inaugural collection from the partnership announced last fall. The collections will be available in all Bon-Ton stores in August. 

PITTSBURGH — Giant Eagle is celebrating its locally and regionally grown produce with a new multimedia video.

The retailer said that it is taking several steps to educate consumers on which fruits and vegetables at their peak season throughout the year and is further relaying this message through its multimedia video, which can be viewed on Giant Eagle's website.

On average, across the retailer set, number of inserts decreased slightly while the number of pages increased on a year-over-year basis for the month of April. When reviewing front page category share of voice, candy experienced a strong increase in April 2011 compared with the same month in the prior year. This is no surprise as Easter fell later in the month in 2011, giving retailers the opportunity to advertise this category for more weeks throughout the month than in 2010. Other categories with notable increases in 2011 versus 2010 include household cleaning, digital TVs and toys.

New York City -- For the second month in a row, Best Buy had to tell customers that their email addresses were compromised.

The chain said that a former business partner’s files containing email addresses of some Best Buy customers were accessed without authorization. Best Buy said it would take legal action but it did not name the vendor involved.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Whole Foods investors got some big news today, not only did the company report that sales for its second quarter rose 12% to $2.4 billion, it announced that is changing its trading symbol to WFM from WFMI effective May 6.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Big Lots reported that sales for its first quarter ended April 30 were $1.2 billion, a decrease of 0.5% compared with $.22 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2010.  Comparable-store sales for stores decreased 3.6% for the first quarter of fiscal 2011.  

MINNEAPOLIS -- Supervalu announced that it will source 100% of its top 20 wild-caught seafood products from sustainable fisheries or those on a clear pathway to sustainability by 2015. Specifically, these products will be certified from Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) fisheries, in full assessment, or involved in a Fishery Improvement Project with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) by 2015, the company reported.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Gap Inc. announced that Patrick Robinson, EVP Gap global design for adult and body, is leaving the company, effective immediately.

“After spending the last three months in New York with the Creative team, I have made the decision to make a change within our Gap Adult design team,” said Pam Wallack, head of the Gap global creative center in New York.

NEW YORK — Apparel retailers across the board experienced strong sales gains in April, thanks in large part to the inclusion of Easter in this year’s reporting period, leading many to raise their quarterly earnings guidance.