Finance & Capital Management

By Tom Rittman, VP of marketing, The Retail Equation

Retailers around the world are gearing up for the hustle and bustle of the busiest time of year. Experts are projecting consumers will spend $602 billion this holiday season. And with billions in sales, there’s bound to be billions in merchandise returns, which can cause retailers to lose a significant profit margin.

The Clarks Group, the company behind the Clarks and Bostonian brands that sells more than 50 million pairs of shoes annually, has named a new chairman.

The privately held United Kingdom-based company, which operates specialty footwear stores in the U.S. and worldwide, elevated Thomas O’Neill to the role of chairman from his position as a non-executive director on the board. He fills a position previously held by Peter Davies to lead the world’s number one non-athletic footwear brand with annual sales of roughly $2.4 billion and a presence in 100 markets.

A strong increase in shopper traffic at Costco during November translated to a 3% increase in same-store sales, excluding gas, at U.S. locations during the four-week November reporting period which ended December 1.

Costco didn’t comment specifically on Thanksgiving weekend sales during a recorded call to recap results, but the company did say that traffic increased a little more than 4% while average transaction sizes were down slightly. Costco and its direct competitors Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale Club were closed on Thanksgiving Day.

A record 700 new Dollar General stores are slated to open in 2014, the company announced Thursday morning after reporting third-quarter results and tempering its full-year sales forecast.

Same-stores sales at Dollar General increased 4.4% and total sales increased 10.5% to $4.38 billion during the third quarter ended Nov. 1. Profits increase 14% to $237 million from $208 million and earnings per share increased 19% to 74 cents from 62 cents.

Walmart International president and CEO Doug McMillon isn’t due to replace current Wal-Mart Stores president and CEO Mike Duke until February, but when he does the most pressing matter on a long list of priorities will be executing the company’s digital vision.

Kellwood Company, a leading apparel manufacturer and marketer owned by affiliates of Sun Capital Partners, has elevated Lynn Shanahan to the position of CEO of Kellwood Company, following the initial public offering of Vince, completed Nov. 27.

Newell Rubbermaid has named Paula S. Larson as EVP and chief human resources officer, effective Dec. 16. She succeeds James M. Sweet, who is retiring after nearly a decade of leading the company’s transformation efforts.

Kroger has extended its streak of consecutive same-store sales growth to 40 quarters — an impressive feat in light of the slow economic recovery.
 
The company reported a same-store supermarket sales increase of 3.5%, excluding fuel, for the third quarter.

"The resiliency of our Customer First strategy … was on full display during the quarter, even as our internal research shows that customers remain uncertain about the economy," Dave Dillon, Kroger chairman and CEO said.

Jos. A. Bank slightly increased its net income to $13.6 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2013 from $13.3 million in the same period a year earlier. The retailer also saw its net sales grow about 6% to $247.5 million, from $232.8 million.

Same-store sales declined 0.1%, although direct marketing sales increased 23.5% and combined same-store and online sales increased 2.4%. Jos. A. Bank incurred $1.2 million of legal and professional expenses in connection with the company's bid to acquire The Men's Wearhouse.

Conn’s more than doubled its consolidated net income in the third quarter of fiscal 2014 compared to the same period in the prior year, growing to about $24.4 million from $11.8 million. Total net sales increased a healthy 51%, to $310.9 million from $206.4 million.