Finance & Capital Management

Minneapolis — Target Corp. gained some momentum going into the holiday season with a third quarter that beat both Wall Street and internal expectations as sales as its U.S. stores exceeded estimates and its troubled Canadian division showed signs of improvement. Its results were also driven by increased promotional activity. This was Target’s first quarter under the leadership of CEO Brian Cornell, who replaced Gregg Steinhafel in August.   

BJ's Wholesale Club has introduced a Mastercard program that ups the ante in the wholesale club credit card category. The My BJ's Perks MasterCard will offer members 10 cents off per gallon of BJ's gas every day, up to 5% back on purchases in-club and at BJs.com, 2% back on eating out and non-BJ's gas purchases, and 1% back on purchases made everywhere else MasterCard is accepted.  

New York — BJ's Wholesale Club’s Mastercard program ups the ante in the wholesale club credit card category. The new My BJ's Perks MasterCard will offer members 10 cents off per gallon of BJ's gas, up to 5% back on purchases in-club and at BJs.com, 2% back on eating out and non-BJ's gas purchases, and 1% back on purchases made everywhere else MasterCard is accepted.    

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wisconsin - Kohl’s Department Stores has once again been recognized with a 2014 Sustained Excellence in Green Power Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

LOS ANGELES — Guitar Center has announced the appointment of Michael Amkreutz to the position of executive VP, marketing, merchandising and E-Commerce, for the Guitar Center brand.  He joins the retailer from Systemax North American Technologies, where he most recently held the role of chief marketing officer.

RESTON, Va. — Total online retail spending for the November–December period will reach $61.0 billion, a 16% gain versus year ago, according to comScore’s 2014 holiday forecast.  Spending using desktop computers for that period is expected to reach $53.2 billion, up 14%  year-over-year, which is 4 percentage points higher than last season’s 10-percent growth rate.

Mobile commerce is predicted to account for $7.9 billion of retail spending, representing 13% of total digital commerce and growing at an annual rate of 25% vs. last season.

Mooresville, N.C. - Ross W. (Bill) McCanless will be joining Lowe’s Companies Inc. as general counsel, secretary and chief compliance officer, effective Jan. 12, 2015. McCanless will replace Gaither M. Keener, who announced plans to retire from the company following 30 years of service.

Customers at the nation’s largest home improvement retailer appeared to shrug off any concerns about a data breach as Home Depot’s sales increased 5.4% to $20.5 billion. Comparable store sales increased 5.2%, but grew 5.8% at U.S. stores. The increased productivity at existing stores drove profit growth, with earnings increasing to $1.5 billion, or $1.15 per share, compared to $1.4 billion, or $95 cents a share, the prior year.