OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Chicago -- Mall owner General Growth Properties said Thursday it has launched an enhanced version of its mobile application.

The Club app delivers several new upgrades, including push notifications to alert users of their favorite store sales, a Google  map feature, live Facebook feeds, GPS capabilities and more. Android and iPhone users can download the free app through the Android Market or App Store by searching The Club Shopping Mall Guide. 

Seattle -- Starbucks Corp. announced Thursday plans to reinvent the $1.6 billion premium juice market with its all-cash purchase of San Bernadino, Calif.-based Evolution Fresh for $30 million.

The acquisition, which is part of a strategy to move beyond coffee into the health and wellness segment, gives Starbucks a path to open new health-and-wellness stores in the coming year, it said, although Starbucks has not yet revealed many stores it will open, their location or the name.

Cincinnati -- Bashas’ Family of Stores, which operates than 120 supermarkets throughout Arizona, will work with KSS Retail to model, measure and implement pricing strategies for its Bashas’ and Food City banners.

“Our goal is to provide our customers with a superior shopping experience,” said Robert Ortiz, Bashas’ VP sales and marketing. “Working with KSS Retail will give us the ability to better understand our customers and what’s most important to them.”
 

New York City -- U.S. households are expected to spend an average of $497 on gifts this holiday season, The Conference Board reported. Only 7% of consumers said they plan to spend more on holiday gifts this year, while approximately 49% plan on spending less than last year.

The survey of holiday gift spending intentions, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen. It was conducted in October. 

Bentonville, Ark. -- According to a Request for Information released Tuesday and reported by Kaiser Health News, Walmart is in the process of piecing together a comprehensive low-cost primary care healthcare platform.

Sidney, Neb. -- Cabela's and US Dataworks announced the introduction of PayItFast for accepting Cabela's Club Visa card payments in all Cabela's U.S. stores.

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Shopkick, the location-based shopping app, announced that Old Navy has joined its partner alliance, with Shopkick walk-in rewards to be live in all of Old Navy's nearly 1,000 U.S. locations. To celebrate, Old Navy will offer $10 off of a $40 purchase plus 150 Shopkick reward points for the partnership's first weekend (Nov. 10 – Nov. 13), available exclusively through the Shopkick app.

New York City -- The Conference Board reported Wednesday that U.S. households are expected to spend an average of $497 on gifts this holiday season. Just 7% of consumers said they plan to spend more on holiday gifts this year, while approximately 40% plan on spending less than last year.