| October 10, 2011 | News for the retail industry |  |  | |
- Wegmans is close to opening New England's largest grocery
Wegmans Food Markets is preparing to open its first Massachusetts location, a 138,000-square-foot store in Northborough that will be the largest grocery in New England. The store will have features including a Mediterranean bar with more than 100 offerings, a make-your-own section for trail mix and employees who chop fruit and vegetables in the produce aisle for customers. The Boston Globe (free registration) (10/9)      - BJ's sees growing grocery rivalry
BJ's Wholesale Club competes head on with Costco and Sam's Club, but the chain also says it's winning a bigger share of the market from traditional grocery stores. The chain is beefing up its organic food offerings and branded products including soups by Panera Bread to boost grocery sales. Boston Herald (10/9) - NYPD charge 111 in $13 million identity theft ring
Police charged 111 people Friday, including restaurant and retail workers and bank tellers accused of being part of a $13 million identity theft ring. Crime bosses hired workers to skim credit card information, which was used to create new cards that "shoppers" would use on weekly sprees at stores including Macy's, Gucci and Best Buy. Most of the merchandise, including a significant number of Apple computers, was resold overseas. The Washington Post/The Associated Press (10/7), Reuters (10/7)  | Move beyond credit risk defense. Gain the power to grow with BusinessIQ℠. For a limited time, you can see the benefits of Experian business information for yourself with a 30 day free trial* of our commercial credit reports and scores – with no strings attached. |
 - Report: Retailers added employees last month
U.S. retailers added jobs in September, including 9,000 new positions at apparel and accessories stores and 5,200 at general merchandise stores, according to the Labor Department. "Clearly, it was a good month for retail. It seems like at this point apparel retailers have momentum on an employment basis," said Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer economics at Moody's Analytics. Women's Wear Daily (subscription required) (10/9) - Retailers likely saw higher sales in September
September retail sales probably rose about 0.7%, the fastest pace in six months, according to an average of 69 forecasts from economists ahead of the official Commerce Department report due Friday. Retailers including Macy's and Kohl's are adding seasonal staff in anticipation that consumers will keep spending through the holidays. Bloomberg Businessweek (10/9) - U.S. mall vacancies climb to 9.4%
Vacancies at regional and super-regional U.S. malls rose to 9.4% in the quarter ending Sept. 30, up from 8.8% in the same period a year ago, as persistent high unemployment slows spending and more consumers go online to shop, according to data from Reis Inc. Occupancy is likely to rise somewhat in the next few months as merchants open stores for the holidays, one broker said. San Francisco Chronicle/Bloomberg (10/8)  | Used to verify compliance, understand operations and identify risks, LP audits are an essential part of asset protection in retail. However, many retailers are not getting the most out of their audits. Click here to learn how LP audits can help your retail business reduce losses and increase profits. |
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 - How to protect your small business from fraud
Research found small businesses are often the targets of fraud, and the majority don't realize the severity of the problem, writes Michael LaBella of TD Bank. LaBella lists five steps for curbing fraud, including using firewalls and anti-virus software to protect computers, shredding sensitive documents and purchasing fraud insurance. Hartford Business Journal (Conn.) (10/10) - App-based loyalty cards let you lose the punch cards for good
Applications such as CaptureCode, CardStar and Key Ring can help businesses to offer loyalty programs to their customers without the traditional paper punch cards. For example, CaptureCode allows businesses to keep tabs on customers' buying habits and offer customized rewards programs to customers who participate. Entrepreneur.com (10/7)  | Improve Holiday Sales Results with Tools from Akamai!
Now is the perfect time to ensure your website will hold up to the rush of holiday shoppers headed your way. With the challenges facing retailers this holiday shopping season, it's never to soon to focus. Download Akamai's Holiday Toolkit now! |
 | Hot Topics |  |  | | Top five news stories selected by NRF SmartBrief readers in the past week. - Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.
| Policy & Government Affairs | |  | | |  | - New swipe-fee rule raises fees on small purchases
Merchants who were paying banks 6 or 7 cents on debit-card purchases under $15 will have to pay the maximum 21 to 24 cents under the new swipe-fee reform. While the new fees will mean lower costs to merchants that ring up bigger sales, retailers that do many small transactions may consider dropping debit cards as a payment option. "That's a dramatic increase on a bag of fries," said NRF's Mallory Duncan. CreditCards.com (10/7)  | | | Most Popular Headlines from Last Week Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers. |
| NRF News | | | | - 5 steps to becoming an effective cross channel marketer -- quickly
With so many paths to purchase, retailers are constantly challenged to understand a changing consumer buying process and to reach consumers with targeted messages in a dynamic cross-channel marketing environment. In an Oct. 13 STORES Knowledge series webinar, executives from iStream and Monitor Group will share how consumers utilize various channels along their pathways to purchase, loyalty and advocacy. This webinar will also examine how data can be translated into actionable campaigns that get results. Learn more.
| Chain Restaurant News | | | | - Subway to add mobile payment option at 7,000 eateries
Subway will outfit more than 7,000 of its restaurants to accept PayPass contactless payments from MasterCard by next spring, a move likely to help mobile payments leapfrog ahead. The PayPass terminals will work with Google Wallet, the first mobile payment system widely available to consumers. InternetRetailer.com (10/7) | |  | | Position Title | Company Name | Location | | VP of Marketing | Teavana | Atlanta - Buckhead, GA | | Merchandise Manager | Party City | Rockaway, NJ | | Vice President, Business Development | Confidential | Akron, OH | | Shopper Marketing and Retail Promotions Director | Two West Inc. | Nationwide, United States | | SELLING MANAGER | SAKS FIFTH AVENUE | Huntington Station, Long Island, NY | | Cosmetics Business Manager | Saks Fifth Avenue | Bal Harbour, FL | | SALES ASSOCIATE CAREER DAY | SAKS FIFTH AVENUE | Bal Harbour, FL | | Designer, Stores | Chico's FAS, Inc. | Fort Myers, FL | | Manager of Store Design | Chico's FAS, Inc. | Fort Myers, FL | | Buyer | Five Below, Inc. | Philadelphia, PA | | Sales Associate Career Day! | Saks Fifth Avenue- San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | | Brand Ambassador- Women's Designer Sportswear | Saks Fifth Avenue | San Antonio, TX | | Construction Project Manager | Chico's FAS, Inc. | Fort Myers, FL | | Purchasing Agent | Chico's FAS, Inc. | Fort Myers, FL | | Director Global Trade & Compliance | Charming Shoppes, Inc. | Bensalem, PA | | Corporate Visuals Manager | MacKenzie-Childs LLC | New York , NY | | Asset Protection Associate | Saks Fifth Avenue | Stamford, CT | | Senior Corporate Internal Auditor | PetSmart, Inc. | Phoenix, AZ | | Assistant General Manager Merchandise | Saks Fifth Avenue | Hackensack, NJ | | Sales Associate | Saks Fifth Avenue | Huntington Station, NY | | Sales Associate - Assistant Store Manager - Personal Shopper - Stylists - Visual Merchandisers | Saks Fifth Avenue | Boston, MA | | FIFTH AVENUE CLUB DIRECTOR | SAKS FIFTH AVENUE | BAL HARBOUR, FL | | Store Manager-Luxury Retail-San Diego | Tourneau LLC | San Jose, CA | | Senior Wine Buyer | Total Wine & More | Potomac, MD | | Contract Recruiter - Merchandising | Burlington Coat Factory | Burlington, NJ | | | Click here to view more job listings. | | |
| SmartQuote | | | |  | We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."
--T.S. Eliot,
American-British writer, quoted for Columbus Day, Oct. 10, 2011  |
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