News

By Warren Storey, [email protected]

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- A 2.3% same-store sales gain at Kmart was not enough to offset a 6% decline at Sears resulting in an overall 1.7% decline for the combined companies domestic operations during the five week December reporting period ended Jan. 1.

New York City -- A retail industry expert presented research Monday at the National Retail Federation convention in New York City that showed shoppers will continue to spend more this year, spurred by a slowly improving job market and an uptick in income.

However, Ira Kalish, director of global economics for Deloitte, added that enough shoppers are still struggling with their finances that any increase will be modest.

Chelmsford, Mass. -- Kronos said Monday that fashion accessory retailer Charming Charlie has selected Kronos’ end-to-end workforce management solution to sustain growth, increase productivity and improve employee retention.

Charming Charlie selected the time and attendance, forecasting and scheduling, hiring, labor analytics and human resources and payroll applications from Kronos.

Chicago -- Galleria announced that Giant Eagle has signed an agreement to deploy its Behavioral Cluster Planning solution, a behavioral-based clustering solution that provides consumer insight and analysis.

New York City -- Quiksilver is targeting its next phase of corporate development using industry-specific software from SAP AG. By replacing its existing business software systems, the sports-themed lifestyle retailer aims to better support the global development, production and distribution of its diversified mix of branded apparel, footwear and accessories.

Atlanta -- Harrods is implementing a series of merchandise planning applications from Predictix. The software is being rolled out for Harrods' Knightsbridge store, as well as its airport locations and online site.

Harrods recognized a need to upgrade its current planning system to allow for more in-depth and more efficient forecasting processes.

Dallas -- SAF AG said Monday that Roller, a German furniture discounter, will utilize SAF RetailSuite Store software to create automatic orders to optimize the replenishment process and regain valuable time for customer service.

The company signed a license agreement and will use the solution across its 100 stores in Europe.

New York City -- Affinity Solutions, a provider of partner-funded rewards programs, announced that it has signed an extension with Anna’s Linens as a client in its bank rewards program, which connects national and local retailers to a network of over 400 banks. Anna’s Linens will also continue its use of the Affinity Dashboard, a proprietary analytic tool that offers retailers access to in-depth consumer spend data.

Sidney, Neb. -- Cabela’s announce the launch of an optimized mobile website through mobile-commerce provider Digby. Through Digby’s mobile-commerce software platform, Cabela’s is enabling mobile as a strategic channel that complements their e-commerce website, catalogs and products sold in more than 30 stores in the United States and Canada.