OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

New York City -- A survey released Thursday by consumer research firm AlixPartners found that 51% of consumers visit traditional supermarkets for their grocery shopping, while 30% shop mass merchants such as Walmart for groceries. Drug stores pull 5% of grocery shoppers, as do dollar stores.

Little Rock, Ark. -- Dillard’s said Thursday it has offered to relocate 66 St. Louis employees whose jobs have been eliminated from the department store retailer’s merger of two merchandising divisions.

Dillard’s is merging its St. Louis merchandising division with another in Little Rock, Ark. The St. Louis division is slated to close Oct. 23.
 

New York City -- Macy’s took the top spot in the annual Digital IQ Index, which ranks retailers according to their online competence. The index measured the digital footprint of 64 brands via 350 data points across four dimensions: Site, Digital Marketing, Social Media, and Mobile. Based on these scores, each brand was assigned a Digital IQ and a corresponding class of Genius, Gifted, Average, Challenged, or Feeble.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation welcomed plans announced by the Obama Administration Tuesday to streamline hundreds of government regulations, but said the plan does not go far enough.

New York City -- Former Duane Reade CEO Tony Cuti was sentenced on Monday to three years in prison in connection with accounting fraud at the New York-based drug store chain.

Cuti, who is to report to prison on Jan. 31, 2012, also must pay a $5 million fine.

Washington, D.C. -- A survey released Tuesday by the National Retail Federation and conducted by BIGresearch showed that department stores, clothing stores and websites are expected to attract most of the last-minute back-to-school purchases.

According to NRF’s 2011 Back-to-School survey, the average family has completed 43% of shopping for K-12 students, similar to last year’s 43.2%. College students and their parents have completed 44.3% f their shopping, up slightly from last year’s 43.1%.

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Best Buy, Sears and Target ranked as the top three cross-channel performers in a study by CrossView, a provider of cross-channel commerce solutions. The study, which examined the cross-channel capabilities of 25 top retailers, found that a majority of retailers are providing an unsatisfactory cross-channel experience. 

Highlights of the study, which is due to be released Aug. 30, include:

New York City -- David Campisi, CEO and president of Sports Authority has suddenly resigned after just 17 months in the position, according to The Denver Post and other newspapers. Campisi joined Sports Authority in 2004 and served in various executive roles prior to being named chief executive and president in 2010. No reason has been given for the departure.