News

WASHINGTON — The Grocery Manufacturers Association has named Elise Fennig as VP industry affairs.

Walmart this week modified a layaway program that had yet to begin after Toys "R" Us said it wouldn’t charge a service fee and lifted minimum purchase requirements for its program.

The layaway saga began in late August when Walmart said the start date of its layaway program would begin on September 16, a month earlier than the prior year. Curiously, Walmart also said at that time the fee to open a layaway account would increase to $15 from $5 the prior year.

NEW YORK — Safeway will package $150 million in real healthcare savings into an overall wellness strategy to be implemented over the course of 2013, the grocer's chairman and CEO Steve Burd told analysts Thursday morning at the Goldman Sachs 19th Annual Global Retailing Conference.

By Kent Smith, [email protected]

Virtually all grocery stores, especially large chain grocery operators, are dealing with the same dilemma when it comes to clustering customers by linking point-of-sale data with loyalty card program information.

And, based on the two very different types of data generated by POS and loyalty cards, it’s obvious to see why grocers are in a quandary on how to approach the issue.

WAYNE, N.J. — Halloween has arrived at Toys"R"Us. The retailer has launched Trick“R”Treat “boo”tiques in its stores nationwide and online. The designated shops will feature the usual assortment along with an all-new, affordable line of classic Halloween fashions for infants, toddlers and big kids called Boo!, available exclusively at Toys“R”Us stores nationwide.

THe Boo! line will include bumble bee, monster, pumpkin and other popular customes ranging in price from $14.99 to $29.99.

Orlando, Fla. -- IBM announced Thursday at its Smarter Commerce Global Summit that RadioShack Corp. is working with IBM's cloud-based solutions to improve price image and pricing operations over the entire pricing lifecycle.

The solutions being used by RadioShack are part of IBM's cloud-based merchandising analytics software and services, which help companies define the optimal price points and product mix based on customer buying trends.

MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu is closing approximately 60 stores as the company moves forward with its turnaround plans. The company will shutter 38 stores in its retail food reporting segment and 22 Save-A-Lot locations. The majority of the stores are expected to close before Dec. 1, the end of the company’s fiscal 2013 third quarter.

DALLAS — Habitat for Humanity and Lowe’s are joining together to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month with two large construction projects that will bring together Lowe’s Heroes, community organizations, schools and local VIPS to celebrate Hispanic heritage while building strong foundations for the future in partnership with Dallas and Houston families. The project includes building two new homes and completing critical repairs on three existing homes in partnership with low-income families.