Finance & Capital Management

Gordmans Stores plans to open a new store next month in its hometown of Omaha in April, the first of five new units apparel and home décor retailer has planned for the year.

The pace of expansion slowed at Shoe Carnival in 2015 but the company produced respectable growth against a challenging prior year comparison that has it poised to achieve a major milestone in 2016.

Gordmans Stores plans to open a new store next month in its hometown of Omaha in April, the first of five new units the apparel and home décor retailer has planned for the year.

Should Walmart and Costco be required to pay employees the same minimum wage?

The answer is no, at least that’s the conclusion of a new study according to the National Center for Policy Analysis, a conservative think tank based in Dallas.

Ulta Beauty is on fire — offline and on.

The specialty beauty retailer plans to open 100 new stores in 2016 while also pursuing new merchandising initiative to enhance the productivity of existing locations.

Ross Dress for Less opened a new store North El Centro, California on March 5. The opening is part of the retailer’s 2016 expansion program, totaling about 70 new locations during the year.

The 26,000- sq.-ft. store is located at Centro Commons, 11 miles north of the California-Mexico border, at the intersection of Imperial Avenue and Cruickshank Drive. With this location, Ross operates 277 stores in California, its largest state.

New store expansion and expectations for same-store sales growth are in store for Michaels Companies in 2016, according to CEO Chuck Rubin.

Rubin sounded an optimistic tone about Michaels’ future following the release of fourth quarter results he characterized as “strong” and attributed to an improved shopping experience, increased customer communications and trend right holiday assortments.

Cato Corp., just delivered its highest earnings in company history and sales topped $1 billion, but chairman, president and CEO John Cato said the road ahead could be rocky.

Cato, operator of 1,372 stores in 32 states, said its fourth quarter sales increased 4% to $247.3 million and same-store sales increased 1%. Full year sales increased 2.4% to slightly exceed $1 billion, but the addition of 31 new stores was the primary driver of full year growth as same-store sales were flat.