News

San Diego -- Teradata Corp. signed a definitive agreement to acquire Aster Data Systems, a market leader and pioneer in advanced analytics and the management of a variety of diverse data that is not structured.

Walmat’s efforts to penetrate to New York have been the focus of considerable media attention the past few years so it is somewhat strange to find no mention of the company in a report out this week on commercial real estate trends.

Laura Pomerantz, a principal with the New York-based commercial real estate firm of PBS Real Estate noted that “2011 will see big changes on the streets of Manhattan. New and unexpected retailers are transforming shopping dynamics from Madison and Fifth Avenue to Times Square and the Upper West Side.”

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation told federal transportation officials this week that a proposal to limit the number of hours truck drivers spend behind the wheel each day would increase costs for businesses and consumers while undermining intended safety benefits by putting more trucks on the road during the most-congested hours.

The March issue of Fortune contains the magazine’s annual ranking of the most admired companies and this year’s list shows Walmart slipped two spots from the prior year and now occupies the 11 position.

New York City -- Many retailers reported better-than-expected sales in February amid milder mid-month temperatures in many parts of the country. But some warned of a weaker March due the timing of the Easter holiday. Analysts also cautioned that rising fuel prices may damper consumer spending going forward.

The Thomson Reuters Same-Store Sales Index rose 4.2% in February, topping estimates for a 3.6% increase, and also rising higher than in the year-ago period.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Pier 1 Imports reported significant gains in fourth-quarter and full-year comps due to increases in average ticket, conversion and traffic. 

The company reported that comparable-store sales for the fourth quarter ended Feb. 26 increased 8.9% compared with last year’s comparable-store sales increase of 6.5% for the fourth quarter ended Feb. 27, 2010. Total sales for the quarter improved to $427 million compared with  $396 million in the year-ago quarter. 

Thanks to the Internet, a lot of what passes for news these days is a report based on a report based on a report with few if any filters in place to verify the accuracy of information. With that qualification in mind, Bloomberg this week reported that Walmart’s market share in China declined to 7.5% in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to 8.2% in the second quarter. The news agency said its report was based on a report in the English language Shanghai Daily newspaper whose report was based on a report from a market research company identified as CTR.

Burlington, Mass. -- Demandware announced that Boot Barn, the largest western wear retailer in the world, has relaunched its e-commerce site, BootBarn.com, on the Demandware Commerce platform. Launched in September, the site kicked into high gear with a large boost in online sales during the 2010 holiday season and has continued its strong momentum into 2011.