Consumer Affairs & Relations

Babies “R” Us has partnered with Medela, a manufacturer of breast pumps and postnatal supplies, to provide the Medela Breast Pump Rental Service to parents nationwide.

Customers visiting any Babies “R” Us store across the country will be able to rent the Medela Hospital-Grade Symphony Double Electric Breast Pump for 30, 60 or 90 days. The program remains flexible, with the opportunity to extend a rental after 30 days.

Fingerprinting and DNA sampling are on back-to-school lists at Sam’s Club this year where the warehouse club operator is using the allure of free services to expose would-be members to its value proposition.

On Saturday, August 9 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at clubs nationwide Sam’s is offering DNA testing and fingerprint kits as part of an annual free children’s health screening program. The screenings, which combine health and child safety information are available at the 596 Sam’s locations with a pharmacy.

Brian Cornell’s tenure as Target’s chairman and CEO begins on August 12. Don’t expect it to last long if his track record at other recent employers is any indication.
 
Cornell brings to Target an impressive roster of C-level positions at big name companies — PepsiCo, Sam’s Club, Michael’s, Safeway — but the 55-year-old executive didn’t stick around for long at any of them.
 

San Francisco – Twitter reported a net loss of $144.6 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2014, up from $42.2 million in the same period a year earlier. Stock compensation drove the increase in net loss.

Revenue more than doubled to $312.17 million from $139.29 million. In Twitter-specific metrics, average monthly users grew 24% to 271 million. Seventy-eight percent those users were mobile, a 29% increase from the same period a year earlier.

Philadelphia – Net income at Destination Maternity Corp. fell 36% to $5.5 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 from $8.6 million a year earlier. Expenses related to the planned relocation of Destination Maternity’s corporate headquarters and distribution facilities, as well as costs related to its proposed and withdrawn merger with Mothercare plc, drove the reduction in net income.

Cincinnati - The Kroger Co. Cincinnati/Dayton Division associates working at Kroger stores in metro and surrounding areas have ratified a new labor agreement with UFCW Local 75. It merges the formerly separate Cincinnati and Dayton contracts.

The contract covers 12,766 associates working in 76 stores in Cincinnati, and 4,945 associates working in 32 stores in Dayton.

Matthews, N.C. – Activist investor Carl Icahn, who had been pressuring Family Dollar to sell the company, has reduced his ownership stake in the company from 9.39% to 6.09%.

Downers Grove, Ill. -- FTD Companies Inc. will acquire the Provide Commerce floral and gifting business from Liberty Interactive Corp. for $430 million in cash and stock. Both companies have annual revenues of more than $600 million.

After a delay of several days, Lumber Liquidators has reported second-quarter results, nearly three weeks after the company revised its full-year guidance, which caused its stock to plummet in recent days.

Net sales for the quarter increased by 2.3%, totaling $263.1 million, compared with $257.1 million in the same quarter last year. But comparable-store sales decreased by 7.1%, with the average sale declining 1.8%. Net income was $16.6 million for the three months ended June 30, down 18.7% from last year's $20.4 million.

Phoenix – Jana Partners, the largest shareholder in PetSmart by one million shares with a 9.9% disclosed ownership stake, is pressuring PetSmart to sell the company. In a letter to the PetSmart board of directors, Jana said it will seek to install new, pro-sale board members at the upcoming annual meeting if PetSmart does not start seeking a sale.