News

Dayton, Ohio -- Data warehousing and analytics company Teradata Corp. said Wednesday it has broadened its partnership with Walmart.

The agreement includes an upgrade and expansion of Walmart's data warehouse environment to provide next-generation capabilities. Taradata said its technology will offer an expected 50% reduction in floor space required and a 40% reduction in energy consumption.

Washington, D.C. -- The Labor Department reported Wednesday that the consumer-price index increased 0.1% in November after a 0.2% rise the prior month. The rise was less than forecast, indicating higher prices for commodities such as fuel aren’t filtering through into other goods and services.

The median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey called for a gain of 0.2%. The so-called core measure, which excludes more volatile food and energy costs, also rose 0.1%, matching the median forecast.

QUINCY, Mass. - Retailer Work 'N Gear announced that it has teamed up with Sears and Kmart to launch America's first "store-within-a store" concept for healthcare fashions in select locations in six markets.

Called "Scrubology", the retail concept feature approximately 600 to 1,500 sq. ft. of space within Sears and Kmart stores, dedicated to the uniform needs of professionals who work as doctors, nurses, veterinarians, lab technicians and more.

NEW YORK - The Deloitte Spending Index, comprising four components -- tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages and real home prices -- fell to 4.29%, from an upwardly revised gain of 4.71% a month ago. According to Deloitte the decline was primarily due to sustained weakness in the housing market despite incremental gains in other areas.  

Atlanta -- First Data Corp. reported Wednesday that dollar volume growth of prepaid card activations was 8.6% in November, a significant increase over November 2009, when activations declined -2.7%.

By Dr Alan Treadgold, [email protected]

There can surely be no question that the two defining themes re-shaping the U.S. retail landscape are the combined impacts of recession and technology. But whereas the impact of recession is, we hope, cyclical; the impact of technology on shoppers’ lives and on retailers’ businesses is profound and structural.

While such retailers as Kohl’s, Walmart and Office Depot were receiving accolades for their sustainability efforts the past few years, Target was seldom mentioned in the same breath. Target wasn’t exactly destroying the planet, but it was far less vocal and precise than others about its efforts in the area of sustainability. Not any more. The company last week established some clear goals regarding resource usage, waste elimination and carbon footprint reduction and a time frame in which to achieve them.

Hartford, Conn. -- Best Buy Co. has settled a Connecticut lawsuit that accused the retailer of advertising lower prices on some items on its website than at in-store kiosks, then overcharging customers at the stores.

Best Buy did not admit wrongdoing as part of the 2007 lawsuit's settlement, filed Monday in Hartford Superior Court. The retailer agreed to pay $399,000 to Connecticut's government general fund and reimburse affected customers for the difference between the online prices and the higher in-store kiosk prices they were charged.