OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

Westborough, Mass. -- BJ’s Wholesale Club said Friday that its shareholders have okayed the acquisition bid that will take the company private.

Private equity firms Leonard Green & Partners and CVC Capital Partners agreed to acquire the warehouse club operator in a deal valued at $2.8 billion.

According to BJ’s, 72% of its shareholders approved the bid. The deal is slated to close on or about Sept. 30.
 

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores will introduce a holiday layaway plan effective Oct. 17 through Dec. 16. The program has a minimum layaway purchase of $50, and requires a 10% down payment. If the program is successful, Wal-Mart said it may extend it throughout the year.

When Wal-Mart phased out its previous layaway offer in September 2006, such programs had fallen out of popularity. But Sears and some merchants brought back layaways as the recession cut into spending.

Wayne, N.J. -- Toys “R” Us is adding a new feature to its “Buy Online, Pick Up In Store” service in time for the 2011 holiday whereby customers using the service will have the ability to designate an alternate person to pick up their order through “Family and Friends Pick Up.” The “Buy Online” service allows customers to shop from the comfort of their own homes, and then to pick up their purchases at the Guest Services desk at a nearby Toys “R” Us store.

Eden Prairie, Minn. --- Supervalu announced the sale of 107 fuel centers located in the Midwest, Intermountain West and West Coast regions following the acceptance of four separate bids to purchase the centers. The transactions include the majority of fuel centers within the Albertsons, Cub Foods, Hornbacher’s and Jewel-Osco banners.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings announced that Raj Penkar will be joining Sears Holdings on Sept. 15 as senior VP and president, supply chain. He will be accountable for all aspects of the company's supply chain, including logistics, warehousing, inventory management and distribution. 

Penkar joins Sears Holdings following a successful 24-year career at UPS, where he most recently served as president of UPS' customer solutions division.
 

New York City -- Speaking at the Goldman Sachs 18th Annual Global Retailing Conference in New York City, Myron Ullman III, chairman and CEO of J.C. Penney Co., expressed confidence that the chain is well positioned for the holiday selling season. However, he noted that uncertain economic conditions have caused the chain to pull back on its expectations.

Ullman noted that customers are still purchasing promotionally priced items along with full-priced goods.

 

New York City -- Lowe’s Cos. plans to build a 1.4-million-sq.-ft. distribution center in Rome, Ga.

The facility, due to open in 2013, will service Lowe’s stores in western Georgia, northern Florida and Alabama

 

Miami -- Ryder System announced that it and Staples have agreed to add 10 heavy-duty compressed natural gas (CNG) tractors to Ryder’s dedicated fleet servicing Staples. The tractors -- the first of their kind used in Staples’ third party dedicated operations -- will replace ten diesel tractors currently used by Ryder for Staples, and have been made available through Ryder’s natural gas vehicle project agreement with the San Bernardino Associated Governments in Southern California.