Finance & Capital Management

Not many retailers can say they were very pleased with exceptional results during a compressed holiday season and challenging fourth quarter, but Steinmart did.

Same-store sales increased 3.1% for the fourth quarter ended Feb. 1, while total sales for the 13-week period declined to $360.8 million from $368.6 million because the fourth quarter the prior year included an extra week, which added sales of $15.8 million to the prior-year period.

It’s official. Amazon is raising the membership fee for Prime and Student Prime customers.

The company sent out emails today to Prime and Student Prime consumers letting them know of the new fees. Prime customers will be paying an annual rate of $99 whenever their membership renews — that’s up from $79 per year.

Student Prime consumers will pay $49 a year, up from $39. Students with questions about renewal rates should click here for details.

Despite continued adverse weather conditions throughout February and into March, Kirkland's president and CEO Robert Alderson said that early first-quarter sales and margin trends have been positive and encouraging.

Many retailers have pointed to a persistent and severe winter for weak holiday and fourth-quarter sales. But according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), retail sales rebounded in February.

The NRF said that February retail sales, excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants, increased 0.2% adjusted month-to-month and 2.3% unadjusted year-over-year.

What’s next for Walmart under the leadership of new CEO Doug McMillon is the focus of the Spring edition of Walmart Supplier News.

Change is in the air at Walmart as the Doug McMillon era begins. No company makes a change at the top out of a desire to maintain the status quo, and McMillon has already indicated there are changes to come.

In 1984, at the impressionable age of 17, Doug McMillon’s journey with Walmart began in a way that hardly foretold he would one day become CEO. On the way to a Walmart warehouse for his first day of unloading trucks, McMillon rear-ended his supervisor’s car with his father’s Honda Civic, he recalled in the February issue of Walmart World.

Although McMillon’s early exposure to Walmart came inside a sweltering distribution center, he said the camaraderie, enthusiasm and passion he witnessed let him know something special was going on.

Genesco chairman, president and CEO Robert J. Dennis said that the company’s overall fourth-quarter results were lower than expected, thanks to inconsistent sales patterns and severe winter storms that affected its key markets.

All is not grim, however, as the company is making investments to bolster its omnichannel capabilities, which Dennis expects will protect near-term profitability and allow the company to expand its retail footprint.

Retailers and CPG companies faced with the twin pressures of low inflation and a lack of volume growth are discovering new methods of driving profit improvement from some surprising sources within their supply chains.

Finance executives who participated in professional services firm BDO’s annual CFO survey expect 8.2% growth in online sales this year and not surprisingly plan to increase investments in mobile capabilities.

Mobile and online sales will continue to drive growth for retailers in 2014, the firm said. However, now that e-commerce has firmly taken root in the retail industry, growth is beginning to stabilize. As a result, about 64% of CFOs said online sales will grow in the coming year, a figure below the 74% who expressed that sentiment the prior year.

Tampa, Fla. — RMC Property Group has earned two exclusive leasing assignments on Florida’s southern West Coast.

First is Fountain Court, a 180,420-sq.-ft. community shopping center in Bradenton’s Highway 64 retail corridor near the beaches and Anna Maria Island. Anchor tenants include Bealls Department Store and Planet Fitness.