All North America articles – Page 26
-
AnalysisOracle Retail Week Awards: Sir Philip Green – taking retail to new levels
Sir Philip Green, winner of this year’s Outstanding Contribution to Retail award, talks about building his empire, US success and doing his bit for the industry.
-
News
Walmart launches online product range
Walmart has launched an online range of products from small and medium-sized enterprises owned by women on its website, to support economic empowerment.More than 200 items, from jewellery and iPad cases to coffee beans and clothing, will be sold on the Empowering Women Together section of Walmart.com.The range comes from ...
-
News
Best Buy to cut 400 jobs in cost saving initiative
Electronics retailer Best Buy is cutting 400 jobs at its Richfield, Minnesota headquarters in an effort to save $150m (£99.6m).Store assistants will not be included in the restructuring and no store closures are planned.However, additional cost-reduction initiatives are likely to follow over the rest of the year.Separately, the retailer has ...
-
News
Department store Macy's reports solid performance for 2012
Department store group Macy’s reported a solid performance in 2012 on the back of strong online growth.For the full year, sales reached $27.69bn (£18.38bn), an increase of 4.9% on the previous year. Like-for-like sales, which strip out an extra week in fiscal 2012, increased 3.7%, beating company guidance.Online sales from ...
-
News
Walmart records solid trading for fourth quarter
Walmart recorded solid trading in its fourth quarter. In the 13 weeks to January 25 group net sales increased by 3.9% to $127.1bn (£84.13bn). Group income from continuing operations rose 7.9% to $5.6bn (£3.71bn).Much of the growth was driven by overseas operations. Walmart International reported a 6.9% increase in fourth-quarter ...
-
AnalysisInternational analysis: Office Depot snaps up rival to take on Staples
Office Depot has acquired smaller rival OfficeMax in a $1.2bn (£794m) all-stock deal. The newly formed business remains behind market leader Staples.
-
News
Walmart has 'worst sales start to a month in seven years'
Walmart has reportedly had the worst sales start to a month in seven years, according to a leaked internal email obtained by Bloomberg.The email, from the company’s vice-president of finance and logistics Jerry Murray, reported that month-to-date sales were “a total disaster”.Possible reasons for the poor performance from the retailer ...
-
News
Sales increase at organic grocer Whole Foods Market
Sales at organic grocer Whole Foods Market in the first quarter were up 14% to $3.9bn (£2.5bn), and like-for-like sales rose 7.2%.EBITDA rose 19% to $337m (£217.8m) and net income advanced 24% to $146m (£94.4m).Co-chief executive officer Walter Robb said that a record 10 stores opened during the quarter, and ...
-
News
Walmart begins testing self-scanning technology
Walmart has begun testing self-scanning using shoppers’ smartphones at 40 stores in Denver, Colorado.Customers can download the Scan & Go app to their phones, and then scan products in-store. Once their shop is complete, they select ‘done shopping’ on the app. A QR code is created and shoppers are prompted ...
-
AnalysisInternational analysis: Gap’s focus on product brings back US shoppers
Gap’s US turnaround continues its upward trajectory. Gap reported net sales for the year ending February 2 reached $15.65bn (£9.7bn), compared with $14.55bn (£9bn) for full-year 2011.
-
News
JC Penney to reinstate promotions strategy
JC Penney is to reinstate promotions in a reversal of its year-old strategy of everyday low prices. The shift comes amid declining sales and a shopper backlash against chief executive Ron Johnson’s decision to abandon the hundreds of discounts, coupons and Sales a year the retailer was known for.The retailer ...
-
GalleryStore of the week: Sportswear retailer, Nike AF1 SoHo, New York
First there were sports shoe shops. Then there were running shoe shops. Now there are shops dedicated to a single sports shoe - well, almost. Welcome Nike’s AF1 store, New York.
-
News
Apple loses market value after weak Christmas
Apple lost more than $50bn (£31.8bn) of its market value last week after shares slumped 12% because of weaker-than-expected iPhone sales at Christmas, reinforcing fears that the retailer and technology giant is losing its dominance in smartphones.Apple posted first-quarter group revenue of $54.5bn (£34.66bn), compared with $46.3bn (£29.44bn) in the ...
-
News
Discounter Dollar General plans 600 new stores across US
Discounter Dollar General plans to open more than 600 stores across the country this year, bringing its total to 11,000. It also plans to recruit 6,000 more employees.Executive vice-president and chief people officer Bob Ravener said: “We’ve been on an aggressive growth pattern. We’ve seen some tremendous opportunities.”
-
News
Ahold US division appoints executive vice-president of merchandising
Grocer Ahold’s US division has promoted Mark McGowan to executive vice-president of merchandising with immediate effect.McGowan was previously executive vice-president of supply chain.
-
GalleryStore gallery: New York’s latest store looks
John Ryan tours the city’s stores to discover what has changed since the last visit to coincide with the National Retail Federation convention in the Big Apple.
-
News
Walmart reveals plans to boost US sourcing
Walmart has revealed plans to boost the sourcing of US products by $50bn (£31.5bn) over the next decade.The retailer will buy more US products in categories such as sporting goods, clothing basics, games and paper products, and aims to encourage US production in high-potential areas such as textiles, furniture and ...
-
OpinionComment: Retailers can take valuable lessons from restaurateurs
In New York last week, investment bank Financo’s 23rd successive Annual Forum was attended by 275 elite invitees, including the chief executives of some celebrated global brands.
-
News
Whole Foods Market chief executive John Mackey faces backlash from customers
Whole Foods Market chief executive John Mackey faced a backlash from customers after he likened President Obama’s health care reforms to fascism.The comment was made during an interview to promote his new book when Mackey was asked about a 2009 article in the Wall Street Journal in which he had ...
-
News
Best Buy reveals slight revenue decrease
Consumer electronics specialist Best Buy has revealed revenues of $12.8bn (£7.97bn) for the nine weeks ending January 5. That compares with $12.9bn (£8.03bn) for the nine weeks ending December 31, 2011.Turnover was down slightly because of a comparable stores sales fall of 1.4%.The performance was seen as encouraging for Best ...