General Merchandise

LANDOVER, Md. — Giant Food of Landover, Md., is one of several retailers promoting environmental awareness as part of Earth Day Monday, the Ahold USA-owned retailer said.

With the steady accumulation of purchasing power attributed to the Hispanic-American community, marketers more and more are targeting Latinos. Here's why: the Hispanic-American population numbers more than 54 million today, with a total buying power of $1 trillion — expected to reach $1.5 trillion in the next two years — and 1.8 million households generating incomes greater than $100,000. DSN called in Reny Diaz, director of client engagement for Nielsen, for additional perspective about the Hispanic-American opportunity.

While the recession has caused some pet lovers to cut back spending on toys and treats, when it comes to their pets' health, consumers aren't skimping. A recent Packaged Facts consumer survey shows that 43% of dog owners and 36% of cat owners purchase some type of specialty nutritional formula pet food or supplemental nutritional products. In 2012, sales totaled about $1.3 billion, according to Packaged Facts.

PURCHASE, N.Y. — Stop & Shop is marking Earth Day on Monday by emphasizing the measures it has taken to reduce its effects on the environment, the Ahold USA-owned supermarket banner said.

Stop & Shop highlighted its efforts to sell sustainably sourced seafood, reducing the environmental effects of its store operations — including adding environmentally friendly design features to stores — and helping customers reduce waste. The chain reiterated its intention to reduce its carbon footprint by 20% by 2015.

SPOKANE, Wash. — Zak Designs on Tuesday announced the latest product license for its line of dinnerware for kids.

Zak is releasing two lines of mealtime products featuring characters from two Disney Junior animated shows: "Jake and the Never Land Pirates" and "Doc McStuffins."

DALLAS — Starting today, April 17, Kleenex brand, the only facial tissue with Sneeze Shield in all of its tissues, according to the company, is giving three schools a chance to win 250,000 eBoxTops for the 2013-2014 school year through the Kleenex brand in the Classroom sweepstakes.

LAS VEGAS — No longer will the SymphonyIRI Group crunch data for the betterment of consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies everywhere, the company's president and CEO Andrew Appel told a packed conference room at the data aggregator's 2013 Summit here.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target Corp. has lowered its earnings expectations for first quarter 2013, the mass merchandise retailer said Tuesday.

The Minneapolis-based chain said it expected same-store sales growth in the quarter to be about flat over first quarter 2012 due to sales trends that have been weaker than expected, particularly in seasonal and weather-sensitive merchandise categories. As a result, earnings-per-share guidance is expected to be less than $1.10; the company's original guidance had stated earnings would be $1.10-$1.20 per share.