Consumer Affairs & Relations

Minneapolis — Target has donated $37,500 in monetary support and product to assist with tornado relief efforts underway in the central United States. The donation includes $25,000 cash for the American Red Cross to aid their efforts and an additional $12,500 that can be used either as cash or product donations to local organizations in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri.

YONKERS, N.Y. — After three consecutive months of improvement, the Consumer Reports Index for March slipped to 46.1, from 49.6 last month.

March's Consumer Reports Index measures overall consumer financial health and showed that the confidence of the American consumer is waning.

Further challenging consumer confidence, The Trouble Tracker Index increased slightly this month to 52.2 from 49.1 in February, and is now at its highest level since August 2011.

Incoming Target CFO John Mulligan and outgoing CFO Doug Scovanner participated in a Target sponsored meeting last Friday at the New York stock exchange. The event gave Wall Street analysts an opportunity to get to know Mulligan, and the consensus is the guy is a strong replacement for longtime CFO Scovanner whose tenure ends March 30.

Yonkers, N.Y. -- After three consecutive months of improvement, the Consumer Reports Index for March slipped to 46.1, from 49.6 last month.

March's Consumer Reports Index measures overall consumer financial health and showed that the confidence of the American consumer is waning.

Further challenging consumer confidence, The Trouble Tracker Index increased slightly this month to 52.2 from 49.1 in February, and is now at its highest level since August 2011.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — 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 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.

Houston -- Stage Stores Inc. reported Tuesday that profit for the fourth quarter rose 2% to $32.7 million, from $32 million a year earlier.

Revenue increased 6% to $479.1 million from $453.7 million, beating Wall Street's $468.2 million forecast.

For the year, Stage Stores reported net income of $31 million, down from $37.6 million in the prior year. Annual revenue climbed 3% to $1.51 billion.
 

QUINCY, Mass., and PURCHASE, N.Y. — Stop & Shop customers in New England and the New York Metro area helped the retailer give back more than $22 million in 2011 into the hundreds of communities in which they operate.

New York — Stop & Shop announced that its New England and New York Metro divisions and its customers were able to give back more than $22 million in 2011 into the hundreds of communities in which they operate.