March 12th, 2012

MARKTING NEWS Taco Bell beefs up new campaign with augmented reality ...... 1 Harry Raaphorst Appointed as New Managing Director of DirectSmile ...... 3

PUBLISHING NEWS ALM Hires Bill Carter As New President and CEO ...... 3 Major Book Publisher Named Innovator of the Year ...... 4 Highlights For Children launches new magazine in China ...... 5 Justice Department threatens Apple, publishers with antitrust suit ...... 6 Lagardere SCA’s Magazine Portfolio ...... 7 Lulu Partners with College Stores ...... 8 Publishers oppose bill on scholarly open access...... 8 Stephanie George, Steve Sachs To Leave Time Inc. in Laura Lang's First Executive Shakeup ...... 9

RETAIL NEWS Best Buy taps former Starbucks exec as its new digital head ...... 9 Foot Locker unveils updated strategic plan, to open stores in 2013 ...... 10 REI future looks bright in Sunshine State ...... 10 Safeway raises expectations for 2012 ...... 10 Stein Mart expands in existing markets ...... 11 Williams-Sonoma puts 2011 to bed with higher profits ...... 11

ECONOMIC UPDATE GDP: 3.0% in Q4 2011 Unemployment Rate: Unemployment was unchanged at 8.3 percent Consumer Confidence: The Index now stands at 70.8 up from 61.5 in January

MARKETING NEWS

Taco Bell beefs up new campaign with augmented reality Rimma Kats , Mobile Marketer . 3/9/2012

Fast food franchise Taco Bell is using augmented reality within its mobile application to promote the company’s new Doritos Locos Tacos and elevate the user experience through technology.

The company partnered with Frito-Lay to reinvent its mobile popular menu item fifty years after introducing it. Taco Bell added a mobile component to engage users on another level.

“Our consumers are constantly connected through their mobile devices and we want to engage with them in a way that is relevant and convenient for them,” said Tressie Lieberman, director of digital marketing for Taco Bell.

“Forty-seven percent of millennials are engaging with social media while they’re eating,” she said. “The Buzz Finder feature in the Taco Bell mobile app gives them an outlet to do so directly with our brand,

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sharing their experience and seeing it in the bright lights of a digital billboard in New York City or Los Angeles.”

Augmented reality Through the app's Buzz Finder, which features augmented reality, consumers will be able to connect with the brand.

Consumers can hold their mobile device to Taco Bell's soda cups or the Doritos Locos Tacos box and the augmented reality will appear.

The augmented reality will be promoted through Taco Bell’s Web site, its mobile app and it will be located on medium and large cups, as well as through the Doritos Locos Tacos Big Box Meal.

Additionally, from March 12 through May 6, several tweets featuring the hashtag #DoritosLocosTacos will be shown on digital billboards in New York City’s Times Square and on Los Angeles’ Sunset Boulevard.

“We heard from consumers in test marketing that Doritos Locos Tacos is a mind-blowing experience and augmented reality allows us to elevate this experience through technology,” Ms. Lieberman said. “Consumers can read other tweets as well as share their own.

“Being a leader in the mobile space is important to us because this allows us to engage with our consumers in a way that is relevant,” she said. “Our new tagline, Live Más, is all about an explorer mindset and inspiring people to try new things.

“With the mobile app, we can provide easy access to our brand and share exclusive content via QR codes.”

Mobile bar codes In addition to using augmented reality, Taco Bell is also using QR codes to engage users.

Music will play a key role in the launch of Doritos Locos Tacos beyond being featured in the television advertisements, per Taco Bell.

The company is integrating its brand and Doritos Locos Tacos at the Feed the Beat Concert Series.

Those not attending can still view performances by scanning QR codes featured on the Doritos Locos Tacos holsters, which lead users to exclusive video content showcasing performances from the Hype Hotel.

A new performance will be featured each week.

Taco Bell is also running a television campaign to promote its Doritos Locos tacos, which was created by Draftfcb Orange County.

“Moving way beyond traditional approaches, the integrated effort leaned heavily into leveraging Twitter, Taco Bell's Facebook presence and even augmented reality,” said Teddy Brown, executive creative director at Draftfcb Orange County.

“Being a brand that's just as concerned about delivering great food as much as they are a great consumer experience, the augmented reality feature allows customers to stream and share live messages about the Doritos Locos Taco in a way that's never been done before,” he said.

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Harry Raaphorst Appointed as New Managing Director of DirectSmile Press release from the issuing company , Whattheythink.com . 3/7/2012

DirectSmile, a leading provider of software for cross media marketing, image personalization and web-to- print, has appointed Harry Raaphorst as its new Managing Director. Raaphorst is succeeding Axel Marciniak who held this position since 2007.

Harry Raaphorst is an experienced industry professional and well-known as the former Managing Director of Atlas Software BV, the developers of VDP software PrintShop Mail. He has been working for DirectSmile as a Partner Manager since 2007.

"To simplify personalized marketing - this is the mission I believe in, and this is also the mission of DirectSmile," says Harry Raaphorst, "I am grateful for the unique opportunity to lead a company with such innovative products and a fantastic, dedicated team, as well as successful customers and partners worldwide. It is my goal to further develop and strengthen these relationships to sustain steady growth, profitability and market leadership."

Axel Marciniak says: "I have been working very closely with Harry Raaphorst during the last couple of years and he’s a very driven person, committed to the progress and expansion of this company. With his clear vision, experience and enthusiasm, I’m confident DirectSmile has a successful future ahead of it." Axel Marciniak will remain in a principal position at DirectSmile as Partner Manager.

PUBLISHING NEWS

ALM Hires Bill Carter As New President and CEO Bill Mickey , Folio . 3/5/2012

ALM has found its new president and CEO in Bill Carter, who replaces the departing William Pollak and who was most recently senior vice president of Thomson Reuters' Small Law Business Unit. Carter officially starts with the company today.

Pollak announced he was stepping down last November and his last day was February 10. He had been the company's president and CEO since 1998.

Before his tenure with Thomson Rueuters, Carter held executive positions with LexisNexis, Epiq Systems, Gerson Lehrman Group and event logistics company GES Exposition Services.

In a statement, ALM non-executive chairman Charles Siegel says Carter's experience in the law market coupled with his digital chops make him a good fit for the company. "His leadership experiences in businesses serving our markets, especially, with the digital transformations, product development and value creation will help accelerate ALM's further growth and profitability."

Carter's appointment closes the loop on the third significant b-to-b CEO transition in the last couple months.

When Pollak announced his exit last November, Penton CEO Sharon Rowlands had also just departed, a month after Summit Business Media's Andy Goodenough did the same thing. All three chief executive positions are now filled: Penton hired David Kieselstein as CEO at the end of January and Summit Business Media tapped Steve Weitzner, who came over from Ziff Davis Enterprise last month, just after his company's assets were sold to online marketing and lead-gen company QuinStreet.

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In 2007, London-based Incisive Media bought ALM for $630 million, but by 2008 struggled with its debt covenants and spun ALM off as a separate business in a deal that also cut ALM's debt from $450 million to $300 million.

Major Book Publisher Named Innovator of the Year Press Release , Alltop . 3/6/2012

PublishingExecutive and BookBusiness magazines have announced that leading U.S. book publisher Hachette Book Group (HBG) and “social magazine” Flipboard have been selected as the prestigious 2011 Publishing Innovators of the Year. The Innovator awards are given annually by Publishing Executive and Book Business—leading publications covering the magazine and book publishing industries, respectively— to recognize significant efforts and achievements in publishing innovation.

HBG and Flipboard join the ranks of Esquire, Time Inc., Bonnier Corp., HarperCollins, Harlequin and Scholastic, which are former recipients of the prestigious award.

The Publishing Innovators of the Year will be recognized during the Publishing Business Conference and Expo, March 19-21, at the New York Marriott Marquis, Times Square.

Hachette Book Group: Owned by Hachette Livre, the second largest publisher in the world, HBG publishes nearly 1,000 adult, children’s and audio book titles annually. The company has a stated focus on “experimentation and innovation,” says Ralph Munsen, CIO of HBG. “Our goal is to deliver to the consumer the best reading experience, and the most exciting and up to date content, and we’re also helping our clients use our technology to publish more effectively in digital.”

This goal has driven the company to the innovations for which Book Business is recognizing it as Publishing Innovator of the Year.

“In an era of publishing when so many changes are taking place so rapidly, innovation is imperative, but often extremely difficult to achieve,” says Noelle Skodzinski, editorial director for Book Business magazine, and program director for the Publishing Business Conference & Expo. “Hachette Book Group has made innovation a priority. It is taking action to quickly address—both internally and externally—the changing consumer-content-consumption habits across multiple platforms. It is this spirit of innovation that the Publishing Innovator of Year Awards recognize, and HBG was this year’s obvious choice in book publishing among the nearly 100 nominations we received.”

Kenneth Michaels, Hachette Book Group COO, says, “The transformation of our industry has challenged us all to think creatively about how to serve authors and customers in new ways. We are very pleased that theBook Business magazine staff has recognized Hachette Book Group’s innovative spirit and achievements. We’re excited about the new opportunities to deliver our authors’ work to as many readers on as many platforms as possible, and will continue to move in bold new directions to achieve that goal.”

One aspect of innovation that was taken into consideration by the Book Business editorial staff and editorial advisory board in selecting HBG for this prestigious award is its patent-pending product to eliminate the moiré effect—moiré is the noticeable, unwanted pattern generated by scanning or resizing a piece of art that contains a dot pattern. HBG has created a process to eliminate the moiré from print material when displayed on screens such as iPad or iPhones. HBG’s moiré effect project impacts the entire backlit display market for halftone books.

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The company also has made significant strides in multichannel publishing workflow processes, with its newly created templates—or reusable technical and creative architecture—that allow mobile apps to be produced with limited investment and maximum creative flexibility. It also is making use of its recently created Hachette Digital Platform (HDP) to maintain content across interactive digital assets simultaneously, and track and analyze customer habits and engagement.

“My own view is that mobile is as big a game-changer today as the Web was 15 years ago, and it seems to me that Hachette is taking that challenge seriously, coming up with good solutions, and ought to be recognized for that,” comments John Morse, president/publisher, Merriam-Webster Inc. and a member of the Book Business editorial advisory board, who was involved in the Publishing Innovator Award selection process.

Jabin White, vice president of content management, ITHAKA, and another Book Business advisory board member, notes, “[HBG] seems to have innovated more on the ‘process’ and product side of things, and I like the way they are approaching things by completely re-thinking delivery methods, workflow, and procedures (which sometimes results in different kinds of products, but sometimes just makes things more efficient).”

Flipboard: “[Flipboard] is a game-changer as far as how publishing will be consumed in the future,” said one member of Publishing Executive magazine’s editorial advisory board in casting his vote for Flipboard as Publishing Innovator of the Year.

Launched in mid 2010, Flipboard made headlines worldwide with its new, customizable content aggregation and social media platform. The difference, however, between Flipboard and other content aggregation platforms, was Flipboard’s presentation and interaction capabilities. Users can essentially pull in Twitter, Facebook and RSS feeds, magazine and newspaper content, and have it presented to them in a magazine-like format on their digital devices, such as the iPad and smartphones. According to the company, Flipboard was “inspired by the beauty of print and the simple action of flipping pages.”

“I appreciate the level of customization based on consumer interest,” says Traci L. Lucien, vice president of Media Operations Support for AARP.

“To my mind, Flipboard is Innovator of the Year because they have created a very compelling reading experience on the iPhone,” says David Granger, a Publishing Executive board member and the Editor in Chief of previous Publishing Innovator of the Year recipient Esquire. “They’ve managed to present up-to- the-second news and entertainment in a really palatable way. I’m not yet sure how Esquire, or the dozens and dozens of other publishers Flipboard has partnered with, take advantage of it in a way that is a game- changer. But as part of our goal is to share our ideas with as broad a swath of the world as possible, it’s an effective way to take advantage of the mobile Web that is also aesthetically pleasing.”

“We’re thrilled to be among such distinguished company,” says Josh Quittner, editorial director at Flipboard. “We look forward to continuing to innovate shoulder to shoulder with our partners in the publishing world.”

In 2011, the company made significant strides toward working more closely with publishers, many of whom have had concerns about emerging content aggregators being yet another type of business built on the backs of publishers’ content. Flipboard now has partnership arrangements with 70 publishers and counting, according to Christel van der Boom, spokesperson for Flipboard. “We work with publishers to design their Web pages into digital magazine pages and create an entirely new type of advertising inventory for the Web, more akin to print advertising,” explains Van der Boom. 5

“In the model we are developing, our publisher partners own the relationship with advertisers. We support their ad sales team wherever we can. Some of these partners have already started selling full-page advertising in their sections. Some examples: Vanity Fair is running Nieman Marcus ads, there are Volkswagen ads in USA Today, Lexus in Condé Nast titles. … We receive a share of the revenue,” she explains.

“Flipboard is the first non-traditional ‘publisher’ that has been selected to receive the Publishing Innovator of the Year award,” says Skodzinski, who is also editorial director for Publishing Executive magazine. “But it was clear in the discussions with our staff and board members that Flipboard absolutely deserves recognition for the innovations it has brought to the world of publishing, for many of which we’ve only begun to see the implications. And, its early efforts to develop a viable financial model for itself as well as publishers make it stand out even more as a true innovator that is initiating a smart business model to share trusted, branded content with consumers on a global basis.”

Highlights for Children Launches New Magazine in China Press Release , MPA . 3/5/2012

At a launch event in Beijing, Highlights for Children unveiled a version of Highlights magazine in Simplified Chinese – Highlights Talent Youth.

For 65 years, Highlights magazine has been a familiar presence in dentists’ waiting rooms and in the homes of millions of families. Its features, including Hidden Pictures, the Timbertoes and Goofus and Gallant, have become staples of American childhood.

While Highlights Talent Youth introduces those beloved features to Chinese children, it also includes content developed specifically for a Chinese audience. “When my great-grandparents started Highlights in 1946, one of the things they hoped to do in the pages of the magazine was celebrate children’s experiences in many different cultures around the world,” said Highlights CEO Kent Johnson. “I think they would be so pleased – and maybe astonished too -- to see how far their ‘Fun with a Purpose’ magazine has traveled.”

To date, Highlights has sold more than one million puzzle books and other products in China, including a magazine for younger children called Highlights Talent Baby, also developed with Xueyouyuan, a leading Chinese publisher of materials for children.

Devoted to “Fun with a Purpose,” family media brand Highlights for Children, Inc. (http://www.highlights.com/) has helped children become their best selves for generations. Highlights magazines are the best-read children’s magazines in North America, and total more than 250 million impressions each year. Other Highlights offerings include a web site for kids (HighlightsKids.com), a children’s book company (Boyds Mills Press), puzzle book clubs and mobile applications like My First Hidden Pictures. “Fun with a Purpose,” Hidden Pictures and Goofus and Gallant are a registered trademarks of Highlights for Children, Inc.

Justice Department threatens Apple, publishers with antitrust suit Alex Palmer , Direct Marketing News . 3/9/2012

The U.S. Justice Department has warned Apple, as well as five major U.S. publishers, that an antitrust lawsuit may be brought against them for colluding to increase the prices of e-books, The Wall Street Journal reported on March 8.

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Should Apple or the publishers seek to settle the case, industry analysts believe it could result in lower prices for e-books, but might also impact the e-commerce industry more broadly. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice who would not confirm the reports said, “We have an ongoing investigation looking at the possibility of anti-competitive practices in e-book sales.” The spokesperson added that, “The matter continues to be open but I wouldn't be able to say anything beyond that.”

This investigation was first confirmed at an oversight hearing last December by Sharis Pozen, head of the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department.

In addition to Apple, publishers Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group, Penguin Group (USA), Macmillan and HarperCollins Publishers are reportedly being investigated for violating antitrust law in an effort to counteract Amazon's deep discounting of e-books.

Apple and a number of the publishers are in talks with the Justice Department, which could result in settlements having implications on e-commerce in general, particularly online media, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“It could eventually carry over to things like app commerce, game commerce and certainly movies,” said James McQuivey, VP and principal analyst at Forrester Research, pointing to the efforts of the film industry with the cloud-based movie system UltraViolet, which has involved the cooperation of major studios and retailers. “Any time everyone gets together and agrees on a particular way to sell something, it runs the risk of getting the interest of the Justice Department.”

McQuivey added that this investigation at least demonstrates that the Justice Department is willing to look into the complexities of these still fairly new digital commerce situations. Though he expects it may be a while before any resolution comes to this investigation, let alone any new investigations into other e- commerce areas are launched.

“It says volumes about how the Justice Department operates that it's taken them two years to come to this conclusion,” McQuivey said. “It may be another two years to try and settle this thing.”

Lagardere SCA’s Magazine Portfolio Folio Staff , Folio . 3/8/2012

Page Content Property: Lagardere SCA’s Magazine Portfolio Buyer: Hearst Seller: Hachette Date: Completed in Late 2011 Price: $919 Million

Hearst Corp. finally completed its $919 million acquisition of Lagerdere SCA’s nearly 100 magazines outside the French market in December 2011 when it closed on its deal to buy the Hachette China operations. The full transaction, which had been undergoing regulatory approval in 15 different countries, was initiated in late 2010.

The deal included nearly 50 websites outside the French market and publishing rights to media brands such as Elle and Elle Decor, ownership of Woman’s Day, Car and Driver and Road & Track. Hearst said it would begin immediately integrating those titles into its Magazine Group. The new Hearst magazine portfolio includes more than 300 titles. 7

“Today’s news represents a rare opportunity to advance Hearst Corporation’s position as a leading U.S. media company and significantly expand our presence domestically, internationally and in major emerging markets,” said Hearst Corp. CEO Frank A. Bennack Jr. in a statement at the time. “Above all, the deal underscores our commitment and belief in magazines and the brands and content they represent.”

The deal, especially because of its scale and its decidedly magazine-centric nature, was a rare one for the year, and may have been the exception to the rule in a year where buyers were being more strategic in their target choices, not to mention thrifty. “The Hearst/Hachette deal was the big consumer media event of 2011,” AdMedia Partners managing director Seth Alpert told Folio:. “But I believe that was driven by cost synergies as much as anything else. So it was financially-driven and I think that’s quite the exception.”

TAKEAWAY: The deal was the magazine media event of the year, but in aggregate it could be characterized as an anomaly.

Lulu Partners with College Stores Judith Rosen , Publishers Weekly . 3/5/2012

At this weekend’s Campus Market Expo, the National Association of College Stores’s technology research and development subsidiary, NACS Media Solutions, announced that it is launching a partnership with self- publishing giant Lulu starting this month. The goal is to help college stores become publishing hubs both on campus and off through online selling options and customizable print and e-book self-publishing solutions.

“Community-based self-publishing is another way in which college stores can connect and add value to their communities,” said Mark Nelson, CIO of NACS and v-p of NMS. “We are excited to bring Lulu’s recognized expertise and experience in self-publishing to our members.”

Among the schools participating in the pilot program with Lulu are: Montezuma Publishing at San Diego State University, Jayhawk Ink at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, and Odin Ink at Portland State University in Portland, Or.

Publishers Oppose Bill on Scholarly Open Access Staff Writer , Alltop . 3/6/2012

A group of 81 scholarly journal publishers on Monday came out against the latest iteration of the Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) -- a bill that would require federal research grantees to make their resulting academic papers freely available to the public no more than six months after publication in a scholarly journal. The bill, introduced last month in both the House and the Senate, is the third iteration of FRPAA to be introduced since 2006; two previous versions failed to make it to a vote.

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) sent letters to prominent legislators in both chambers criticizing the bill for seeking to apply a “one-size-fits-all” deadline of six months before publishers, many of which charge for access to articles, must compete with a free version in a government database. In many disciplines, publishers retain the exclusive right to sell access to the peer-reviewed article for “several years before costs are recovered,” according to the AAP. Among the 81 signatories to the letters was Elsevier, a major journal publisher that last month withdrew its support for (and effectively nixed) the Research Works Act -- a bill that would have preemptively killed FRPAA -- after facing a boycott from frustrated scholars.

The American Anthropological Association, which caught flak last month from some of its members after its executive director wrote a note to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy criticizing public access mandates, did not sign on to either letter. 8

Stephanie George, Steve Sachs To Leave Time Inc. in Laura Lang's First Executive Shakeup Steve Cohn , Folio . 3/9/2012

Time Inc. president/CEO Laura Lang dramatically ended her seemingly passive first two months on the job with an announced restructuring that is resulting in the departures of corporate chief marketing officer (since December 2010) Stephanie George (pictured) and executive vp/consumer marketing (since 2009) Steve Sachs. In her staff memo, posted by AdAge.com, Lang wrote that the changes were part of a first phase in "creating a roadmap to capture [Time Inc.'s] potential growth."

Up next is a review by corporate consulting and restructuring specialist Bain & Co., which in its website states that its publicly held clients (Time Inc. parent Time Warner is one) have "historically outperformed the stock market by 4-to-1." (Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was a 1980s founder of Bain spinoff Bain Capital, which has generated much controversy during the campaign.)

Both George and Sachs will be leaving Time Inc. at the end of June. George joined the company in May 2001 as InStyle president after 12 years as W/Women's Wear Daily (Fairchild Publications/Condé Nast) publisher/publishing director. Her recognition included being among the 2008 FOLIO: 40.

Sachs' career highlights included president of the Time Inc. Lifestyle Group, which evolved from his being president of 2000 launch Real Simple.

Sachs' departure is described as "personal," with his relocation to Austin, Tex., "to bring him closer to his extended family." He will be helping Lang in her search for his successor.

George's promotion to chief marketing officer coincided with Paul Caine becoming chief revenue officer. (Both moves were made by Lang's Sept. 2010-Feb. 2011 predecessor Jack Griffin.) In the new setup, Caine is assuming some of George's responsibilities and joins a Lang-created "Office of the Chief Executive" with chief financial officer Howard Averill, general counsel Maurice Edelson and corporate editor-in-chief John Huey.

PUBLISHING NEWS

Best Buy taps former Starbucks exec as its new digital head Katherine Field Boccaccio , Chain Store Age . 3/9/2012

Best Buy Co. said Friday it has named Stephen Gillett as executive VP and president of Best Buy Digital and Global Business Services, effective March 14.

Gillett was previously executive VP Digital Ventures, and chief information officer at Starbucks, charged with leading the company’s efforts to enhance the overall global business operations and improve the customer experience through the use of innovative technology and digital experiences worldwide.

In the newly created position at Best Buy, Gillett is tasked with accelerating the transformation and growth of Best Buy through the advancement of the company’s global digital strategy, digital marketing, entertainment offerings, multi-channel capabilities and business development.

"E-commerce is one of the fastest-growing sales channels for our business,” said Brian Dunn, CEO, Best Buy Co. "Through his transformation work at Starbucks, Stephen has shown the ability to use digital capabilities to deepen relationships with customers across a wide demographic range.”

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Foot Locker unveils updated strategic plan, to open stores in 2013 Katherine Field Boccaccio , Chain Store Age . 3/7/2012

In a conference call to investors on Tuesday, Foot Locker announced an updated strategic plan and financial initiatives intended to elevate the retailer’s performance for the 2012 to 2016 period.

According to chairman and CEO Ken Hicks, the company has found success in the first two years of its five-year plan. “However,” he said, “because we have already achieved several of our initial financial goals, and because we have identified significant new opportunities that we believe can drive our business to even higher levels of performance, our team has updated our strategic priorities and actions, as well as our long-term financial objectives."

Hicks said the company would open new stores in 2013 – no firm number has been made available – and would drive performance in its core athletic banners. Other new strategic priorities include:

•Make its stores and internet sites more exciting, relevant places to shop and buy; •Deliver exceptional growth in high-potential business segments; •Aggressively pursue brand expansion opportunities; and •Increase the productivity of all of its assets.

Over the next five years, the company said it expects sales of $7.5 billion, sales per gross sq. ft. of $500, a net income margin of 7% and inventory turnover of 3+ times.

REI future looks bright in Sunshine State Gail Hoffer , Retailing Today . 3/7/2012

Recreational Equipment Inc. will make its Florida debut in the spring of 2013 with the opening a a store in Jacksonville, Fla. The company also announced that it will open its eighth store in Texas in the city of San Antonio in the fall of 2012.

The company's first Florida store in Jacksonville will occupy nearly 23,400 sq. ft. and will be located at The Markets at Town Center. The San Antonio location will occupy 27,500 sq. ft.

"Texas and Florida offer an abundance of ways to enjoy the outdoors, and REI is eager to bring our quality products, helpful advice and hands-on classes to our current members and aspiring adventurers," said Rachel Ligtenberg, REI's regional VP east region. "Through our expert employees, outdoor programming and local relationships, we want to inspire more people to live an active lifestyle."

REI currently operates 122 retail stores in 29 states. Other locations opening this fall include Cincinnati, Ohio, Woodbridge, Va. and Medford, Ore. A new store in Indianapolis, Ind. will open on March 16.

The company said that for each store, it will recruit approximately 50 new employees.

Safeway raises expectations for 2012 Allison Cerra , Retailing Today . 3/6/2012

Safeway is projecting that 2012 will be a good year for the retailer.

The company said ahead of an investor conference held Tuesday that it forecasts earnings per share will be in the range of $1.90 to $2.10 per diluted share. This compared with net income of $1.49 per diluted

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share in fiscal 2011, due to a tax charge 29 cents per diluted share. Excluding the charge, diluted earnings per share would have been $1.78 in fiscal 2011.

"We made progress in 2011 on a number of initiatives. We built out an internal technology platform for our digital marketing program, just for U; we continued to achieve significant cost reduction; we maintained price parity; our consumer brands team created another $100 million brand with Open Nature; Blackhawk delivered another year of double-digit growth and we returned $1.7 billion in cash to shareholders," Safeway chairman, president and CEO Steve Burd said. "With 87% of our store base remodeled into Lifestyle stores, we believe we have the freshest asset base in the supermarket industry. When you combine all this with our differentiated offering, we believe we are very well positioned for future growth."

In late February, Safeway reported that overall sales for 2011 were up 6.3% and identical-store sales, including fuel, were up 4.4% for the year.

Stein Mart expands in existing markets Gail Hoffer , Retailing Today . 3/6/2012

Stein Mart has plans to open three new stores on March 15, located in Irvine, Calif.; Suwanee, Ga.; and Sunset Hills, Mo.

The Irvine store is a relocation of another Irvine location. The two new and one relocated store bring Stein Mart’s total store count to 264.

“We are pleased to announce the expansion of our footprint in these three existing markets,” said Jay Stein, interim CEO.

The new stores are located at The Market Place II in Irvine, at Johns Creek Town Center in Suwanee, and at The Plaza at Sunset Hills, in Sunset Hills.

Williams-Sonoma puts 2011 to bed with higher profits Gail Hoffer , Retailing Today . 3/8/2012

Williams-Sonoma ended fiscal 2011 with revenue and earnings growth in its fourth quarter. The company reported that net revenues for the fourth quarter of 2011 increased 6.1% to $1.3 billion versus $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010. The company reported diluted earnings per share on a GAAP basis of $1.17 compared with $1.05 for the same period last year.

Laura Alber, president and CEO commented, “Fiscal 2011 was a year of milestones – both in terms of operational performance and progress against our long-term growth initiatives. Through strong execution and a superior multichannel strategy, we delivered record earnings and profitability in a promotional environment, never losing sight of our mission to enhance our customers’ lives at home.”

The company reported comparable-brand revenue growth of 6.6% for the quarter versus 10.9% for the same period last year. Comparable brand revenue growth includes both comparable-store net revenues and total direct-to-customer net revenues. See Exhibit 2 for quarterly comparable brand revenue growth history by concept.

During fiscal 2011, net revenues increased 6.2% to $3.721 billion versus $3.504 billion in FY 10. Comparable-brand revenue in fiscal 2011 increased 7.3%.

Diluted earnings per share for fiscal 2011 on a GAAP basis were $2.22 compared with $1.83 for the same period last year. 11

For the first quarter of 2012, Williams-Sonoma is expecting net revenues in the range of $800 to $820 million and comparable-brand revenue growth between 3% and 5%.

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