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MARKETING NEWS Content marketing growing; Print media a top vehicle .............................................................. 2

1 in 4 Global ad dollars spent by FMCG in Q3 2012 ................................................................. 2

Customers put their trust in AmEx, USPS, and Amazon; Social media not so much ................ 3

Do personalized recommendations really work? ........................................................................ 4

PUBLISHING NEWS Magazines see surprising spike in ad sales ................................................................................. 5

Cat Fancy publisher sold in 8-figure deal ................................................................................... 7

Editorial Leadership Shuffle at Wired.com ................................................................................ 8

Magazines' digital circ soars... to 2.4% of total .......................................................................... 8

POSTAL NEWS Letter carriers denounce USPS plan to scrap Saturday deliveries ............................................ 10

USPS investigates dynamic routing for parcels and express mail ............................................ 12

RETAIL NEWS Vitamin Shoppe cleared for Super Supplements takeover ....................................................... 13

Oracle to buy Acme Packet for $1.7 billion ............................................................................. 14

OfficeMax to open smaller format ............................................................................................ 14

Newell Rubbermaid Q4 sales beat expectations ....................................................................... 14

Macy’s, Kohl’s have positive January results........................................................................... 15

ECONOMIC UPDATE

GDP: 4th

quarter 2012: -0.1 percent. 3rd

quarter 2012: 3.1 percent.

Unemployment Rate: the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 7.9 percent in

January.

Consumer Confidence: which had declined in December, fell further in January. The Index now

stands at 58.6, down from 66.7 in December.

February 11th

, 2013

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MARKETING NEWS

Content Marketing Growing; Print Media a Top Vehicle

Staff , Print In The Mix . 2/6/2013

According to a survey Ad Age conducted in late 2012 of nearly 600 U.S. marketers, content

marketing is claiming a growing share of marketers' budgets -- 12% on average -- and

more than half of marketers (55%) plan to spend even more in the coming year. Additional

findings:

• Asked which types of content marketing they are using, most Ad Age survey

respondents rely on existing social networks (80%) and print media (77%). • Other avenues of distribution include blogs or digital articles (52%), video (49%), live

events (43%), and targeted microsites (41%). About one-quarter are using branded

entertainment (26%), white papers (24%), and webinars or virtual events (23%) and

custom social communities (20%). • When asked what percentage of their budget is dedicated to content marketing, one in 5

said 19-30% and nearly 10% said 30% or more – yet one in 5 are allocating less than

2%, and the same number of respondents say they don’t know. • Ad Age notes that a challenge of content marketing is “it can be next to impossible to

determine any sort of meaningful ROI” -- and thus the reason for a possible reluctance

for organizations to commit budget dollars towards the tactic. • Another challenge, marketers shared is determining “the right way to fund and distribute

content.” According to the survey, while 55% of marketers will increase content-

marketing budgets in 2013, “the vast majority of survey respondents rely on owned-

and-earned channels to distribute content, rather than paid channels.” Less than half of

marketers report they have dedicated budgets for content production and distribution. • Less than one on 10 (8%) marketers told Ad Age they are "very satisfied" with their

ability to understand the effectiveness of content marketing; 48% say they are

"somewhat satisfied."

1 in 4 Global Ad Dollars Spent by FMCG in Q3 2012

Staff Writer , Marketing Charts . 2/4/2013

The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector accounted for 25.1% of global ad spend in

Q3 2012, according to new data from Nielsen, which previously reported 4.3% year-over-

year growth in spending for the quarter. FMCG was by the far the largest sector by ad

spend share, trailed by entertainment (11.7%), industry and services (11.2%), and

healthcare (9.9%). Nielsen notes that FMCG spend grew by 9.6% in Q3 on the back of

increases in food and drink advertising.

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Looking at the year-to-date (Q1 through Q3), the data shows that the telecommunications

industry grew its advertising outlay most rapidly, by 6.6%. The media (6.1%), automotive

(6%) and FMCG (6%) sectors also saw solid growth. By contrast, two of the larger

advertising sectors – industry and services and healthcare – kept spending relatively flat,

with the former inching up by 0.6% and the latter down slightly by 0.4%.

Other Findings:

FMCG advertising in the Middle East and North Africa soared by 41% in Q3. Within the media sector, broadcasters upped their spending by 8.3% in Q3. On a year-to-date basis, Procter & Gamble ranked as the top-spending advertiser,

followed by Unilever and L’Oreal.

Customers Put Their Trust in AmEx, USPS, and Amazon; Social Media Not So Much

Al Urbanski , DM News . 2/8/2013

Americans may be mad about Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, but they don't trust them as

far as they can post them. They feel much safer sharing sensitive personal information with

a list of long-established companies led by American Express, Hewlett-Packard, Amazon,

IBM, and the U.S. Postal Service.

Those five organizations topped the Ponemon Institute's 2012 Most Trusted Companies for

Privacy survey, which asked 6,704 consumers to name, unassisted, the companies they

trusted most to protect their privacy. Rounding out the top 10 were Procter & Gamble,

USAA, Nationwide, eBay, and Intuit. This marks the sixth consecutive year at the top of the

list for American Express.

The only social media company to make the list was Facebook at number 17. Ponemon

Institute doesn't reveal names of the least-trusted companies, but it did identify social

media, nonprofits, and toy manufacturing as the least trusted industries.

While guaranteeing that its survey sample is nationally projectable, the Ponemon Institute

qualifies that consumers are likely to rate companies based on factors outside of privacy,

such as good or bad customer service experiences. “Sometimes, it's not about privacy at

all,” says the Institute's Chairman, Larry Ponemon. “People rarely read companies' privacy

policies. They're too long and too full of legalese. It's more about a gut feel.”

Indeed, 63% of those surveyed admitted to sharing their sensitive personal information with

an organization they did not know or trust. Ponemon observes that the true percentage

must be higher, because not everybody will admit to such risky behavior. The majority of

those admitting to the behavior said they did it for convenience's sake when making a

purchase.

A privacy paradox is at play among the populace, which appears suspended between

convenience and concern. While 78% said they feel privacy protection plays an important or

very important role in assessing trustworthy companies, only 35% felt they have control

over their personal information. That percentage has eroded a little more each year since

2005, when more than half felt in charge of their personal data.

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“Marketers can use the control issue to their advantage,” Ponemon says. “Because

perception counts so much toward consumer trust, companies would be wise to ask

customers how they would like to be contacted.”

Consumers identified the top three threats to their privacy as identity theft, government

surveillance, and notice of data breaches.

“Big Data is a treasure trove for marketers, and most consumers don't fully understand how

much information is collected and used to market to them,” Ponemon says. “But they do

have an idea that there's this machine out there collecting all this information and they're

fearful mistakes can be made that can harm them.”

More respondents seemed unhappy with government snoops and nonprofits this year than

last, but Ponemon ascribes that to the fact that surveying began as the election season was

winding down and people were being besieged by campaigns and PACs.

Consumers used the Most Trusted survey to provide a guide to marketers on how they

would like to be treated. Organization privacy features they rated most important were:

1. Substantial security protections

2. No data sharing without consent

3. Ability to be forgotten

4. Option to revoke consent

5. Limits on data retention

Do Personalized Recommendations Really Work? (Case Study)

Heidi Tolliver-Walker , Digital Nirvana . 2/4/2013

Do personalized recommendations really work? If so, just how much? Most of the data

comes from the world of online retailing where it’s easier to track than print, but there are

certainly applications to print we can learn from. Yesterday, I ran across an actual A/B split

test that provided the kind of detail you don’t normally see.

The test came from Nova Pontocom, the second largest Latin American online retailer. It ran

an experiment for one month involving three portals, nearly 600,000 different users, and 50

million page views and resulted in 1 million online orders generating revenues of $230

million.

“To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest scale controlled experiment aiming to

assess the business value impact of personalized recommendations published so far,” write

the authors of the report.

Users were randomly assigned to a treatment group that received personalized

recommendations and a control group that did not. The personalized recommendations were

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generated by seven different collaborative filtering techniques based on product views,

purchases, and shopping cart composition.

At the end of the month-long test, researchers found (with 95% of statistical significance)

that the personalized recommendations resulted in an overall increase in revenues in the

order of 8-20%.

Although online shopping and print marketing are different animals, the concept of

providing a relevant offer based on the recipient’s own behavior has universal application.

For those who’ve wondered just how much personalization can affect the bottom line when

all other factors remain the same, this is some pretty strong data.

PUBLISHING NEWS

Magazines see surprising spike in ad sales

Jennifer Saba , Reuters . 2/4/2013

Glossy products still look best on the glossy page.

Advertising for luxury brands is driving increases in first-quarter ad pages at big magazine

publishers, a welcome dose of good news for companies that have grappled with layoffs,

restructurings and general malaise in a business whose fortunes have fallen as the online

world has grown.

Conde Nast, Hearst Magazines, Time Inc and Rodale all expect a rise in ad pages sold in

their magazines for the first quarter.

Conde Nast, whose magazines include Vogue, GQ and Vanity Fair, expects its strongest

first-quarter in five years, with a 5 percent increase in ad pages. The news was so unusual

that the company even issued a press release on the subject, something it hasn't done in

sometime.

And as Europe remains mired in an economic slump, high-end fashion brands like Hermes

are finding a ripe audience in U.S. magazines.

"What I hear continually from research about luxury advertising is that consumers like the

actual experience of print," said Brenda White, a senior vice president and a director of

publishing at Starcom USA, a division of Publicis Group SA.

Company executives said the gains are not coming at the expense of lower prices.

"I'm knocking wood," said Lou Cona, chief marketing officer at Conde Nast. "Anything can

happen, (but) the early signs are very positive.

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"The page numbers you see from us are real; they are fully paid for," he said.

Hearst is projecting a first-quarter rise in ad pages of 6 percent and an even greater gain in

ad revenues. Rodale, the publisher of Men's Health, is anticipating to be up 10 percent in ad

pages for the same period. Time Inc, which is owned by media conglomerate Time Warner

Inc, expects a 6 percent rise in ad pages for the first quarter.

Even so, the print magazine industry is troubled and publishers are curtailing spending as

they put a greater focus on the digital world. Time Inc announced on Wednesday that it was

cutting 6 percent of its staff, saying it needed to be "more innately multi-platform" and

would focus on "critical investments and new initiatives."

In the most prominent example, Newsweek last year shuttered its print edition after almost

80 years.

Last year, ad revenue industry-wide fell 3 percent, according to the Publishers Information

Bureau, which tracks magazine ad sales and revenue.

U.S. gains from Europe’s loss

Europe's woes have provided a boon for U.S. magazine publishers. Specific categories such

as luxury and beauty advertisers that represent high-end fashion brands like Hermes and

Proenza Schouler and automakers such as General Motor's Cadillac and Ford's Lincoln are

turning their focus on U.S. audiences.

Michael Clinton, Hearst Magazine's president and marketing and publishing director, said

Harper's Bazaar, Elle and some of the company's other fashion books that cater to high-end

fashion brands are setting records. Harper's Bazaar recently closed its biggest March issue

ever, with ad pages up 21 percent. Elle's February issue, up 33 percent in ad pages, was its

fattest issue ever.

"Europe is so challenged that luxury fashion brands are shifting to North America," Clinton

said.

At Time Inc, ad pages are up 5 percent at InStyle and up almost 32 percent at People,

according to Paul Caine, executive vice president and chief revenue officer, who also said

the rise is not because of reduced ad rates.

Hoping to tap brands that are eager to get in front of upscale audiences, The Wall Street

Journal increased the publication of its luxury WSJ Magazine this year to 11 issues. It was a

quarterly when it launched in 2008.

"Luxury and fashion have been the categories immune to the broader economy," said

George Janson, managing partner, director of print for Group M, the parent company of

WPP's media agencies.

In addition, publishers have become more sophisticated in offering what is best described as

marketing services that include sponsored driven events and digital packages along with

traditional ads.

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"Publishing companies have really upped their game in the marketing partnership area,"

Starcom's White said. "They have been doing it for a while, but it's more robust."

Cat Fancy Publisher Sold in 8-Figure Deal

TJ Raphael , Folio . 2/4/2013

A newly formed joint venture between Mark Harris, co-founder and co-owner of National

Publisher Services (NPS), and David Fry, chairman of NPI Ventures LLC and CTO of Fry

Communications, called I-5 Publishing LLC has acquired the books, magazines and websites

of special interest publisher BowTie Inc.

Terms of the deal were not released, but Harris and Fry ballparked it at $10 million-plus.

Included in the sale are Cat Fancy, Dog Fancy, Pet Product News International, Horse

Illustrated, Urban Farm, AnimalNetwork.com, DogChannel.com and books like Dog Heroes

of September 11th and The Original Dog Bible.

I-5 Publishing LLC, Harris and Fry’s new venture, is the latest in a series of professional

partnerships between the two executives and their respective companies—NPI Ventures

owns 50 percent of NPS, which acquired Circulation Specialists Inc. in 2011, as previously

reported by FOLIO:.

“BowTie uses Fry as one of its major printers so we’ve had a longtime relationship with

BowTie and we understand their business fairly well from that standpoint,” says Fry. “Mark

and I saw an opportunity to get together and apply some of the resources we have and see

what we can do to improve the results that these titles have had over the last five years or

so. We want to improve print and digital, and find new opportunities to take resources here

at the company and apply them to new brands.”

In addition to being a client of Fry, BowTie was also a client of NPS for several years. I-5

Publishing is headquartered in Irvine, CA, with offices in Los Angeles, CA, Lexington, KY and

Chicago, IL. Fry and Harris say that the majority of the staff from the BowTie properties will

be maintained.

“We’re thrilled to see this opportunity come about,” says Harris, who has been appointed

interim CEO of I-5 Publishing. “We seek to expand content and make it available on all

platforms. We believe in further investing and bringing in more expertise to the company to

help raise the bar for us.”

I-5 Publishing also announced that Daniel Ambrose, managing partner of Ambro.com, has

joined the I-5 executive team as chief strategy officer of digital and advertising. Harris and

Ambrose will be joined on the executive team by former BowTie executives Nicole Fabian,

chief financial officer, June Kikuchi, chief content officer and Dolores Whitlo, VP of consumer

marketing.

“We’ll be looking at growing topline revenue with brand extensions and the introduction of

new products,” says Harris. “We’re open minded to partnerships, which will be a big priority,

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as well as further developing the existing digital strategy. We think there is a very large

opportunity there.”

Editorial Leadership Shuffle at Wired.com

Caysey Welton , Folio . 2/6/2013

Through a pair of tweets yesterday Mark McClusky and Evan Hansen announced a transition

at the top editor spot at Condé Nast's Wired.com. Hansen is departing and McClusky,

formerly the editorial development director, will be taking over the position, a role that

Hansen had filled since 2005.

Hansen ambiguously broke the news about his departure on Twitter Monday tweeting "So

long @wired it's been fun." Shortly after, McCulsky followed up by tweeting, "Couldn't

possibly be more proud or excited to be named the new editor of Wired.com. Now, the fun

starts."

No information has been given as to why Hansen is leaving, or who made the decision.

However, a Condé Nast representative has confirmed that Hansen is out and McClusky is in.

McClusky was just promoted to editorial development director at Wired.com last month.

Condé Nast also reports that Hayley Nelson will be joining Wired.com as director of product,

a new position at the publication. Nelson joins from The New York Times. Both McClusky

and Nelson will report to the recently named editor-in-chief at Wired magazine, Scott

Dadich.

Magazines' Digital Circulation Soars... to 2.4% of Total

Nat Ives , Ad Age . 2/7/2013

Magazine circulation remained roughly flat in the second half of 2012 as digital editions

grew again but remained a small contributor to the whole, according to new figures from

the industry's chief arbiter of circulation.

Paid digital editions in the second half increased approximately 147% from the second half

of 2011, according to the latest twice-yearly report from the Alliance for Audited Media.

That means digital now comprises about 2.4% of the industry's total circulation. A year

earlier, digital was under 1%.

Magazines with the largest digital circulation include Game Informer, Maxim, Cosmopolitan,

National Geographic, Reader's Digest, Taste of Home and Popular Science. Maxim reported

average digital circulation of 259,529, up more than 50% from 171,688 in the second half

of 2011.

Magazines' overall paid and verified circulation in the second half declined a nominal 0.3%

from a year earlier, the Alliance for Audited Media said. "Verified" refers to certain kinds of

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circulation served to public places like waiting rooms or to selected individuals who don't

pay but can opt out.

Paid subscriptions across print and digital increased 0.7%, but newsstand sales fell another

8.2%, the latest drop in an extended deterioration of single-copy sales.

Publishers' main trade group, however, quickly argued that paid circulation is an incomplete

gauge of magazines' health. "There's going to be a lot of chatter and a lot of ups and downs

because everyone's in transition," said Mary Berner, president-CEO of the MPA, as soon as

the numbers came out Thursday morning. "But I think my point of view is that circulation

averages are one important aspect of how magazine media is measured but really they

don't tell the whole story."

Only 65% of magazines reporting to the Alliance of Audited Media filed anything about

digital circulation, Ms. Berner said, suggesting that there is more out there than it seems.

"What is even more incomplete is that it doesn't capture audience, which is like saying we're

going to judge a television network's ratings by the number of TV sets in households," she

said. "It's an old way to measure. Unfortunately it's the only way we've got right now."

"If you look at total audience numbers, while it's not in this data, the footprint for

magazines has increased year over year and continues to grow," Ms. Berner added.

Paid circulation remains the yardstick for matters like ad rates, not to mention a factor in

magazines' bottom lines. Single-copy sales still matter too -- if gradually less so as they

decline and other channels improve.

"If you go back a number of years, when it was harder to generate subscriptions and easier

to generate newsstand, that's the measure people would hold out," said David Carey,

president of Hearst Magazines. "Today the subscription piece is easier and the newsstand

piece is a bit harder."

"But the newsstand channel is a very important one," Mr. Carey said, noting that it

comprises 16% of Hearst's total. "It is a point of entry for a lot of future subscribers, for

people who are sampling the brand."

Hearst has been looking for ways to turn tech toward its advantage, even in print --

concentrating for example on selling print subscriptions through the web and better

targeting prospects through data. To reach shoppers in checkout lines who once flipped

through magazines but now pull out cellphones, Hearst has experimented with putting

codes on covers urging shoppers to scan them with their phones. And the company has

expanded its efforts deeper in stores, setting up a co-promotion between Coca-Cola and

Cosmopolitan.

Single-copy sales at Hearst declined just 1.9% from the second half of 2012, according to

the company, aided partly by a 14% gain at Woman's Day, a 10.4% gain at Food Network

Magazine and an average of 310,000 newsstand sales for the fledgling HGTV Magazine.

Electronic editions increased 61% but remain about 3% of Hearst's total, which grew 2.3%,

the company said.

Cosmopolitan, the country's biggest newsstand seller, saw single-copy sales drop 18.5% but

overall circ dip just 0.5%.

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At Rodale, the publisher of magazines such as Men's Health, paid and verified circulation

edged up 1.2% as digital paid subscriptions grew 384% and single copy sales slipped just

1.2%. Women's Health increased newsstand sales 9.2%, the company said.

Conde Nast said paid subscriptions grew 1.6% as print subs declined 0.8% but digital

subscriptions grew 253%. Single-copy sales fell 11.3%. The company's overall circulation

held roughly flat, down 0.2%.

At Time Inc., People magazine's single-copy sales fell 12.2% but the title's top-line

circulation increased 1.9%.

POSTAL NEWS

Letter carriers denounce USPS plan to scrap Saturday deliveries

Staff , Post & Parcel . 2/7/2013

Cash-strapped USPS currently has legal requirements to collect mail six days per week, but

wants to move to five days per week to save as much as $2bn a year.

Last year as it recorded a $16bn loss, the Postal Service failed to get lawmakers in

Washington to support its proposals to end weekend delivery for mail other than package

deliveries.

Today, the Postal Service called a press conference in order to lay out accelerated moves to

cut costs in the light of last year’s failure by Congress to pass postal reforms. Measures

being announced are expected to include the delivery frequency change to take effect in

August, which would maintain Saturday delivery for packages.

The National Association of Letter Carriers said today that Donahoe should step down if he

had no other way to save money than a “misguided” plan to cut service.

It said reducing delivery frequency would effectively “doom USPS to failure”.

The union said ending Saturday delivery would have a “profoundly negative effect” on the

millions of USPS customers – particularly small businesses, the elderly and those in rural

communities who depended on it for communication and commerce.

USPS issued a request for information last month seeking help on developing new delivery

systems assuming that it will move to five-day-a-week delivery.

The Postal Service document suggested that the Postal Service could implement the delivery

frequency change within just 90 days. However, it is as yet unclear how the Postal Service

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will get the powers to move to five-day delivery. Mounting financial losses may force the

issue in Congress this year.

“Arrogant”

NALC president Frederic Rolando said the USPS plan “flouts the will of Congress”, and

accused Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe of arrogance in his “slash and shrink”

approach to the financial problems at the Postal Service.

“Slowing mail service and degrading our unmatchable last-mile delivery network are not the

answers to the Postal Service’s financial problems,” said Rolando. “If the Postmaster

General is unwilling or unable to develop a smart growth strategy that serves the nearly

50% of business mailers that want to keep six-day service, and if he arrogantly thinks he is

above the law or has the right to decide policy matters that should be left to Congress, it is

time for him to step down.”

NALC, which represents about 200,000 city-based letter carriers, insisted that it has tried

“time and again” to work with USPS management to pursue growth measures and cost

savings.

“It has become clear that the Postal Service leadership’s only strategy is to gut the unique

postal network that provides us with the world’s most affordable delivery service, and to

eliminate the services on which Americans depend,” said Rolando.

The postal reform process must begin again from scratch since a new session of Congress

began last month.

The US Senate is kicking things off with a hearing next Wednesday (13th February) of the

Committee of Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, looking at “solutions to the

crisis facing the US Postal Service”.

Rural carriers

“Congress must act immediately to rectify this situation”

The president of the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, Jeanette P Dwyer, who is

planning to testify before the Senate Committee next week, said today that the USPS plan

to end Saturday deliveries was a “death knell” for a quality service.

“To erode this service will undermine the Postal Service’s core mission and is completely

unacceptable,” she said.

“Saturday mail delivery is an important communication and marketing tool used by millions

of citizens and mailers across the country, especially in rural areas that lack broadband

Internet access. Many customers rely on the Postal Service to deliver prescription

medications, social security checks, and financial statements. Many other citizens and

businesses rely on Saturday for the collection of outgoing invoices and materials.”

Dwyer said she would emphasize the need to save six-day delivery to US Senators next

week, and blamed much of the USPS losses on the Congressional mandate to prefund future

retiree health benefits.

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“While no other federal agency or business is burdened by such an extreme pre-funding

requirement, the Postal Service is shackled and left to fail. Congress must act immediately

to rectify this situation, or else risk harming many businesses and individuals and

eliminating millions of jobs across the country,” she said.

USPS investigates dynamic routing for parcels and express mail

Staff , Post & Parcel . 2/6/2013

The world’s largest mail delivery company has issued a request for information seeking

industry ideas on how to develop a dynamic routing strategy for its competitive products –

package mail, Express Mail and Priority Mail.

USPS is inviting contributions on how it can move away from the current “rigid” structure in

order to cut costs, and to take account of the widespread changes to its network.

“Dynamic routing will play a key role in the overall success in the transformation of the

USPS delivery operations model,” said the Postal Service, which handles around 40% of the

world’s mail by volume.

The Postal Service, which made a $16bn loss last year, is already in the process of

consolidating delivery routes and is looking into more centralized delivery approaches,

particularly doing away with door-to-door delivery where possible.

It is also hoping that Congress will allow it to abandon Saturday delivery for ordinary mail,

to save as much as $3.1m a year in operating costs. However, the intention is for package

delivery and express mail services to continue to occur on Saturdays.

USPS said in its request for information that it needs a dynamic routing strategy to provide

web-based software tools that will guide postal staff on coordinating deliveries in the light of

the changes to delivery standards.

The new dynamic routing strategy is also needed as the Postal Service looks to expand its

Same Day Delivery service to take advantage of the boom in e-commerce and retail home

delivery. The Same Day service is currently being trialed in San Francisco.

It could mean postal delivery for packages, Express Mail and Priority Mail taking place

throughout the day, rather than only late morning and afternoons.

The Postal Service said it would create new Express Mail hubs to contend with the new five

day delivery model, it said.

Dynamic

The Postal Service’s private sector rivals have been using dynamic routing systems for years

to improve delivery planning and cut down on costs. Most famously, perhaps, UPS has used

computer modeling to shape its delivery system since 2004 to avoid left-hand turns where

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possible, because in many US states drivers can turn right on a red light, avoiding idling

time.

The kind of product features that USPS is looking for includes the ability to plan for time

penalties for road turns, along with many other aspects of developing the most efficient

delivery routes dynamically, adjusting to issues including customized delivery deadlines for

certain items, speed limits and traffic reporting.

It would have to be suitable for use by local site personnel to manage and provide

instructions for delivery staff.

Initially, it would likely also plot pickup of Express Mail items from business customers and

collection boxes. But the solution USPS is looking for would not necessarily be limited to a

single service like Express Mail, or focused only on the delivery side of the process.

“The solution shall not be limited to solving a delivery problem within a segment of the

USPS process chain, rather it should address, as appropriate, the total cycle of mail

acceptance through final delivery — from first to last mile,” said the Postal Service.

USPS said its request for information was not a contract process at this stage, it is simply

gathering ideas on how it may adopt a more dynamic approach as its delivery network

transforms.

Several groups within the Postal Service are already engaged in dynamic routing studies

and activities, looking at commercial off-the-shelf dynamic routing systems and also

experimenting with custom-built solutions.

Ultimately, USPS is looking for a flexible and robust system, but also one suitable for quickly

scaling up to the full USPS network. The request for information document said that if

Congress allows it, the Postmaster General would want a new five day delivery system for

ordinary mail to be operational within just 90 days.

RETAIL NEWS

Vitamin Shoppe cleared for Super Supplements takeover

Katherine Boccaccio , Chain Store Age . 2/7/2013

The Vitamin Shoppe said Monday it was notified by the FTC that it has been cleared to

acquire Super Supplements, with a targeted closing date of Feb. 15.

In December, the vitamin retailer had announced it would purchase the assets of Super

Supplements, a specialty retailer of vitamin, mineral and supplements, for $50 million.

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Super Supplements operates 31 stores in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, and expands

Vitamin Shoppe's presence in the Pacific Northwest where it currently operates 17 stores.

Oracle to buy Acme Packet for $1.7 billion

Marianne Wilson , Chain Store Age . 2/6/2013

Oracle Corp. said on Monday it has agreed to buy Acme Packet for $29.25 per share or

approximately $1.7 billion, net of Acme Packet’s cash.

Acme Packet, which is based in Bedford, Mass., makes networking equipment that allows

customers to deliver voice, video and data across Internet networks for tasks such as video

conferencing.

“The addition of Acme Packet to Oracle’s leading communications portfolio will enable

service providers and enterprises to deliver innovative solutions that will change the way we

interact, conduct commerce, deliver health care, secure our homes and much more,” said

Mark Hurd, president, Oracle, in a statement.

The companies noted the deal will "accelerate the migration to all-IP networks by enabling

secure and reliable communications from any device, across any network."

OfficeMax to open smaller format

Marianne Wilson , Chain Store Age . 2/6/2013

OfficeMax has become the latest retailer with a smaller-store, urban format either open or

in the wings.

The retailer will unveil its smaller concept sometime in 2013, according to Crain’s Chicago

Business. The new format will range between 5,000 sq. ft. and 15,000 sq. ft., the report

said.

Newell Rubbermaid Q4 sales beat expectations

Staff Writer , Retailing Today . 2/4/2013

Newell Rubbermaid reported that net sales in the fourth quarter were $1.52 billion, an

increase of 1.6% compared with the prior year. Sales growth was largely attributable to the

tools, baby and parenting and writing segments and to robust growth in Latin America, the

company said.

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“We are pleased with our quarterly and full year 2012 performance,” said president and CEO

Michael Polk . “Our solid fourth quarter financial results represent the sixth consecutive

quarter of consistent delivery in line with or better than expectations. Full year normalized

EPS and operating cash flow both came in above the high end of our guidance range. We

increased core sales by 2.2%, a sequential improvement versus last year, and a solid

outcome in the face of tough economic conditions in Europe and challenges in our Décor

business. Our Win Bigger brands have healthy share momentum and we are generating

strong core sales growth in emerging markets, particularly in Latin America. We also

returned significant levels of cash to shareholders through our dividend, which nearly

doubled in 2012 to the current annualized rate of $0.60, and our ongoing share repurchase

program.”

Net income, as reported, was $101.9 million, or 35 cents per diluted share, for the fourth

quarter. This compares with $80.4 million, or 27 cents per diluted share, in the prior year.

Net sales for the twelve months ended Dec. 31, 2012, increased 0.6% to $5.90 billion,

compared with $5.86 billion in the prior year.

Normalized earnings were $1.70 per diluted share compared with $1.59 per diluted share in

the prior year. Net income, as reported, was $401.3 million, or $1.37 per diluted share. This

compares with $125.2 million, or 42 cents per diluted share, in the prior year.

For fiscal 2013, the company said it expects net sales to grow between 1% and 3%, and

earnings per share to range from $1.78 to $1,84.

Macy’s, Kohl’s have positive January results

Katherine Boccaccio , Chain Store Age . 2/8/2013

Department store retailers reported strong sales in January as shoppers responded

positively to post-holiday clearance events.

Overall, the 20 retailers reporting January comps saw an average rise of 5.1%, according to

the International Council of Shopping Centers, which beat the mall trade group’s 3%

forecasted rise.

Macy’s reported an 11.7% rise in January same-store sales, as well as a total sales increase

of 34.6% to $1.799 billion. “Simply put, January was an outstanding month for Macy’s and

Bloomingdale’s,” said Terry Lundgren, president and CEO. “Clearly, our strategies are

resonating with customers as they shop in our stores, online and via mobile.”

For fiscal 2012 as a whole, Macy’s sales totaled $27.686 billion, up 4.9% from $26.405

billion in fiscal 2011. On a same-store basis, Macy’s fiscal 2012 sales were up 3.7%.

Kohl’s also posted strong results in January. Same-store sales increased 13.3%, benefiting

from an extra week, as did all retailers.

“Our January performance allowed us to accomplish our goal of clearing seasonal

merchandise and we are happy with the balance and strength of our inventory across

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regions and categories as we enter fiscal 2013,” said Kevin Mansell, president and CEO,

Kohl’s Corp.

Nordstrom reported an 11.4% rise in January same-store sales, and Bon-Ton dipped 0.4%.