Finance & Capital Management

Kroger turned in a stunning first quarter same store sales performance while expanding omnichannel and convenience capabilities designed to extend a comp streak now well into the 11^th year.

Same store sales rose 5.7% excluding fuel in the first quarter ended May 23. Net income attributable to Kroger rose to $619 million, or $1.25 per share, in the first quarter, from $501 million, or 98 cents per share, a year earlier.

New York -- A former executive from Wal-Mart Stores has joined up with a real estate executive to expand New York City-based luxury home décor retailer Gracious Home.

Dottie Mattison who served in a variety of executive roles from 2006 to 2010 at Wal-Mart, including senior VP and general manager of the apparel global merchandising center and chief merchant of Walmart.com, has teamed up with David Mitchell to buy a majority stake in Gracious Home for an undisclosed price. Mattison will serve as CEO and Mitchell as chairman.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune is reporting that Target laid off 140 staffers and eliminated 50 open positions at its headquarters on Wednesday.

According to the newspaper, the eliminated positions were in places “we identified redundancies or opportunities for greater efficiencies,” Molly Snyder, a Target spokeswoman, wrote in an e-mail. 

Read more by clicking here.

New York -- Target Corp. has laid off about 140 employees from its Minneapolis headquarters as part of its transformation efforts, and eliminated 50 open positions, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

Including the latest round of cuts, Target has let go about 2,500 workers this year.

Click here for the story.

Customers have responded so well to New York & Company’s collaboration with Eva Mendes that the retailer has extended its deal with the Cuban-American actress.

Launches in 2013, the Eva Mendes Collection features five seasonal assortments and 11 unique deliveries a year, which feature apparel and accessories.

Cincinnati -- Kroger Co. on Thursday reported a big increase in its first quarter profit and its 46th consecutive quarter of positive identical supermarket sales growth, excluding fuel.

“Our results show the power of our Customer 1st Strategy," stated Rodney McMullen, chairman and CEO, Kroger. "Our associates are making a difference for our customers by providing excellent service and product quality and selection, and we continue to improve the shopping experience by bringing technology and digital capabilities to our business.

A search is underway for a new CEO to execute a massive transformation at one of the world’s largest retailers. Getting to the interview will require U.S. executives to take a very long flight and the successful applicant will need good listening skills to decipher the accent of co-workers.

New York - Borderfree, provider of international cross-border e-commerce solutions, has expanded its platform to reach more than 220 countries and territories. This expansion of scope includes an additional 120 countries and 15 currencies.

Key emerging luxury markets Borderfree will now sell to include Nigeria and Kazakhstan. Both markets offer opportunities for e-commerce expansion due to increasing smartphone saturation and discretionary spending.

The additional countries will be available to Borderfree customers starting this June.