News

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe’s will unveil the next wave of products and services for Iris, its cloud-based smart home solution, at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show.

Iris enables homeowners to monitor and control their homes from anywhere via smart phone, tablet or computer with a free basic level of service. Lowe’s will showcase more than 15 new Iris devices and services developed since the smart home solution’s launch in 2012 at the show.

AUSTIN, Minn. — Hormel Foods will acquire the iconic peanut butter brand Skippy from Unilever for approximately $700 million.

Hormel, known for its chili, ham and pork products, looks to balance its portfolio with the non-meat protein product. With peanut butter in a $2 billion category with a 74% household penetration, as well as the second most popular sandwich behind ham in the United States, Hormel will be in a good spot to grow its domestic and global brand presence.

New York -- An apparel last-minute surge in holiday shopping helped many key retailers report better-than-expected sales in December. Twenty retailers reported sales in December rose an average of 4.5%, compared with the year-ago period, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. Costco, Gap, Nordstrom and TJX Cos. were among the best performers.
 

WATSONVILLE, Calif. — EVP and president of Nordstrom Direct Jamie Nordstrom has joined West Marine's board of directors. Nordstrom also was appointed as the fourth member of West Marine's governance and compensation committee.

His board and committee service is expected to begin on the first meeting scheduled in 2013, most likely in March, and Nordstrom, like all the other directors, will stand for re-election to the board at West Marine's 2013 annual meeting of stockholders.

An annual holiday e-retail satisfaction report produced by analytic's firm ForeSee showed considerable improvement at Target this year following a challenging 2011.

Amazon.com, LLBean.com and QVC.com were the top three retailers on ForeSee’s Annual Holiday E-Retail Satisfaction survey while Target was in the upper one third of companies analyzed.

CINCINNATI — Bounty touted the absorbency and strength of each small sheet of Select-A-Size paper towels at the 2013 Rose Bowl Game’s VIP Tailgate.

WASHINGTON -- The National Retail Federation on Wednesday welcomed an agreement reached between the White House and Congress on a plan to avoid the fiscal cliff. The agreement was approved by the Senate early this morning and could be considered by the House as soon as today.


CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Dollar Tree intends to expand its 603,000-sq.-ft. distribution center in Marietta, Oklahoma by an additional 400,000 sq. ft.

The leading operator of discount variety stores in North America which sells everything for no more than $1 will create more than 100 new full-time positions as a result of the expansion.