All North America articles – Page 34
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AnalysisWalmart US recovers with ‘back to basics’ strategy
Walmart’s results showed that although the US business is finally getting back on track, it must not take its eye off the core domestic division.
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News
Nordstrom posts net profit increase
Department store group Nordstrom posted a 1.7% increase in net profit to $236m (£147m) for its fourth quarter ended January 28. Net sales rose 12.5% to $3.17bin (£1.97bn) and rose 7.1% on a like-for-like basis. Online sales soared 35% during the quarter.Top-performing categories included handbags, designer and cosmetics. For the ...
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News
Amazon subsidiary to launch Casa.com
Amazon’s Quidsi subsidiary, acquired in 2011, is to launch a new homewares site, Casa.com. The site will offer more than 35,000 products in categories including kitchen, home decor, bedroom and bathroom and complement existing portals, which include Diapers.com, Soap.com, BeautyBar.com, Wag.com and YoYo.com. Quidsi is also expected to introduce a ...
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AnalysisLondon 2012: will retailers benefit?
You don’t need a ticket to gain extra sales from this year’s Olympic Games but, as Mark Faithfull reports, not all retailers stand to benefit from the events taking place in the UK this summer.
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News
Amazon’s Kindle Fire grabs share of US tablet market
Amazon’s Kindle Fire has overtaken Samsung to grab the second largest share of the US tablet market, according to research firm IHS. It estimated that Amazon had a 14% share of the market during the fourth quarter after releasing Kindle Fire in November. That compared with a 57% share for ...
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News
SuperValu reveals plans to cut its nationwide workforce
Grocery retailer SuperValu has revealed plans to cut its nationwide workforce by around 800. The majority of the redundancies will be made by the end of the company’s financial year on February 25. The decision is part of a strategy to remove permanent expenses from the business and reduce overall ...
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News
Amazon signs licensing agreement with Viacom
Amazon has signed a licensing agreement with Viacom that allows Amazon Prime members to stream television shows from a multitude of channels. The deal, which gives customers access to programmes from MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, TV Land, Spike, VH1, BET, CMT and Logo, boosts Amazon’s online library by 15% to ...
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Staples to launch tablet-optimised transactional website
Office specialist Staples is to launch a tablet-optimised transactional website. Shoppers using a tablet device will be automatically routed to the site at T.staples.com. Its user interface has been designed to keep typing to a minimum in order to ensure that as much content is viewable on the screen at ...
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JC Penney unveils transformation strategy
JC Penney has unveiled a transformation strategy under which it will overhaul its pricing, merchandise and presentation.The department store group plans to update its entire store portfolio by 2015. Under the retailer’s new ‘Fair and Square’ pricing initiative tiered pricing consisting of ‘Everyday’ regular prices will be introduced, ‘Month-Long Values’ ...
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Netflix bounces back from difficult year
Netflix bounced back from the difficulties it faced last summer to report strong revenue growth and an increase in subscriptions for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2011.During the period, the entertainment provider posted a 47% surge in revenue to $876m (£558m), although net income declined 13% to $41m (£26m). ...
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GalleryNew York store design: A year’s a long time in retail
There have been some dramatic changes in Manhattan’s retail landscape over the past 12 months and the visual merchandising bar has been raised yet again. John Ryan reports.
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News
Home Depot and eBay to extend PayPal trial
Home improvement retailer The Home Depot and eBay will extend their PayPal in-store payment trial service from five stores to 51 in the San Francisco area. Pilot customers can pay for items via their PayPal account at The Home Depot’s point-of-sale systems using either a PIN via their mobile phone ...
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Walmart announces key executive changes
Walmart said that Brian Cornell is stepping down as chief executive of Sam’s Club. Cornell cited personal reasons for the decision to leave. From February 1, he will be replaced by Rosalind Brewer who most recently served as president of the Walmart US east business unit. Walmart disclosed several other ...
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AnalysisNRF: Why technology matters to retail
2012 will be a key year for retailers, with spending constrained and structural changes hitting hard. Retailers at this year’s NRF conference showed they’re tackling the hurdles head on, finds Rebecca Thomson.
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Kroger launches fully-automated convenience store
Grocery retailer Kroger has launched a fully-automated convenience store on the campus of Ohio Northern University in Ada. The 9-ft tall unit, provided by Shop24 Global, offers about 200 standard convenience products such as drinks, snacks, refrigerated meals, cleaning supplies and over-the-counter medicines. The machine’s stocking and dispensing system can ...
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AnalysisUS discounters turn up the heat in grocery sector
Last week, US-based discount retailer Family Dollar posted a 7.6% increase in net sales to $2.1bn (£1.36bn) on the back of strong growth in the consumables category.
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News
Merger announced for Shopko and Pamida
Shopko and Pamida, both owned by an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, are to merge. The retailers expect the deal to close in mid-February, and financial details have not been disclosed. With Shopko and Pamida’s annual revenues of $2bn (£1.29bn) and $1bn (£647.4m) respectively, the companies will operate nearly 350 ...
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NewsTesco to close 12 Fresh & Easy stores
Tesco is to temporarily close 12 of its Fresh & Easy stores in the US in the face of harsh of economic conditions.
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News
GNC to expand outside the US
Nutritional specialist GNC is to expand outside the US, with plans for more than 200 new international stores, chief executive Joe Fortunato told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The openings include new market entries in Russia, Brazil and the EU.GNC, which already operates about 2,500 international stores, also plans 160 new stores ...
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News
Lowe’s acquires online retailer ATG Stores
Home improvement retailer Lowe’s has acquired ATG Stores, an online retailer of home enhancement and lifestyle products based in Washington. Lowe’s said the deal allowed it to capitalise on complementary strengths and employees’ expertise by sharing best practices for online marketing and merchandising.“The addition of ATG Stores is a strategic ...
