3 short retail supply chain links

1. Wal-Mart reducing suppliers order-to-cash cycle from 90 days to 15 days. Wal-Mart partners with Wells Fargo & Co and Citigroup to provide supply chain financing to their suppliers. Via on Kevin. Read more here WSJ.
   
2. Effect of geographic location on retail stock prices. J. Crew (JCG), the much loved retailer based in New York City, and the Buckle (BKE), a teen retailer most Mutual Fund managers have never seen or heard of, based in Kearney, Nebraska. Debt: JCG $98 M, BKE $0. # Stores: JCG 320 but BKE 404 stores. Operating margins: JCG 18.8% and BKE 22.3%. I wonder how they integrate with their trading partners?. Read more here Seeking Alpha.
   
3. ASN Best Practices. A good podcast on ASN from GXS. Read and listen here.