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March 6, 2014 Markets in 59 out of the approximately 350 metro areas nationwide returned to or exceeded their last normal levels of economic and housing activity, according to the National Association of Home Builders/First American Leading Markets Index (LMI), released today.  This represents a net gain of one from the previous month. The index’s... Read more »

March 4, 2014 Lowe’s has named Michael A. Jones as the company’s chief customer officer, effective April 30.  Jones currently serves as Lowe’s chief merchandising officer, overseeing the full merchandise offering for all Lowe’s U.S. stores and Lowes.com, as well as all global sourcing activities. Jones will succeed Gregory M. Bridgeford, who plans to retire... Read more »

March 4, 2014 The nation’s leading home improvement retailer is no stranger to e-commerce, but its efforts to offer a more robust omnichannel experience took a major step forward recently with the opening of the company’s first direct fulfillment center. The approximately 1 million sq. ft. facility less than an hour south of Atlanta in... Read more »

March 3, 2014 New Orders, Employment and Inventories Growing; Production Contracting; Supplier Deliveries Slowing Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in February for the ninth consecutive month, and the overall economy grew for the 57th consecutive month, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business.  The report was issued... Read more »

February 28, 2014 The Home Depot has promoted Craig Menear to president, U.S. retail.  Menear was previously EVP, merchandising, responsible for all merchandising departments and merchandising services and strategy; the company’s supply chain network; global sourcing; vendor management; marketing; and online sales. In his new role, Menear will add responsibility for all U.S. store operations,... Read more »

February 27, 2014 As far as sales go, Sears Holdings didn’t have a very happy holiday.  But the company was still able to narrow its loss for the fourth quarter, as it lowered expenses and reduced inventory. The company said the costs of transforming into a member-centric retailer using an integrated online platform and the... Read more »

February 26, 2014 In a sign of some progress in its turnaround efforts, J.C. Penney reported a net profit of $35 million for the fourth quarter ended February 1, compared to a loss of $552 million a year ago.  Excluding a tax benefit and other items, Penney had a loss of $206 million for the... Read more »

February 26, 2014 Target continues to cope with the fallout of a data breach, which, as expected, hurt the company’s fourth quarter results.  The company incurred $61 million in expenses related to the breach during the quarter, but was able to bring the total impact to $17 million after applying a $44 million insurance payment.... Read more »

February 25, 2014 Since Office Depot completed its merger transaction with Office Max November 5, 2013, the company has been aggressively executing its integration plan.  The company’s fourth quarter results for the period ended December 28, 2013 include OfficeMax’s operations, which generated $939 million of sales. Chairman and CEO Roland Smith said that the company... Read more »