Finance & Capital Management

Mooresville, N.C. -- Lowe’s Companies announced that that Marise Kumar has joined the company as senior VP strategy and modeling. She joins Lowe’s with more than 25 years of experience in brand management, general management and executive leadership, serving most recently as chief customer experience officer and chief marketing officer for Best Buy.

Chicago -- GoldMax USA said it has opened a store in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., marking the chain’s 50th store in the state. It operates more than 200 stores nationwide.

GoldMax said it has plans to open eight more California stores within the next 30 to 60 days in City of Industry, El Cajon, Los Angeles, Murrieta, Norco, Orange, Rancho Cucamonga, San Juan Capistrano, and Upland.
 

Los Angeles -- Urban Partners and Harbor Urban announced that David Walker has joined the company as VP capital markets.

Walker will be responsible for actively procuring debt and equity capital for both entities. The firm is currently focused on urban infill assets in West Coast markets and, together with AREA Property Partners, recently acquired Seattle-based Harbor Properties and merged it with Urban Partner’s local office to form Harbor Urban.

Minneapolis -- Best Buy Co. woes continue, as the electronics retailer reported Tuesday a loss of $10 million for the quarter ended Nov. 3, compared with net income of $156 million in the year-ago period. Results were hurt by restructuring charges and slowed sales.

Sales slid 4% to $10.75 billion, but met Wall Street expectations. Same-store sales dropped 4.3%.

Philadelphia -- Urban Outfitters reported Monday that net income in the third quarter rose 17.4% to $59.5 million, compared with $50.7 million in the prior-year period but missing Wall Street estimates.

Sales rose 13.6% to $692.9 million, narrowly missing analysts’ expected $692.5 million in revenue. Same-store sales dipped 1%.

Fort Myers, Fla. -- Chico's FAS reported Tuesday that net income for the quarter ended Oct. 27 surged 57.4% to $41.7 million, compared with $26.5 million in last year's third quarter.

Sales increased 18.2% to $636.7 million, and same-store sales grew 9.9%.

By banner, Chico's/Soma Intimates same-store sales increased 11.6%, and White House|Black Market rose 6.4%.

New York -- DSW Inc. reported Tuesday that net income fell 6.6% to $50.1 million, compared with $53.7 million in the same period last year.

Sales increased 11.7% to $592.7 million, compared with last year's third quarter sales of $530.7 million and beating Wall Street’s expected $548.1 million in revenue.

Same-store sales increased grew 6.3%.

The company said it plans to open 25 to 30 new stores next year.

WILMINGTON, Del. — The retail industry is awash with forecasts and projections during the holidays, but a near real-time indicator from Chase reveals how shoppers are actually behaving.

NORWICH, N.Y. — Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya has won the Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 Retail and Consumer Products Award. Ulukaya was also awarded the Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 Overall Award.

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award encourages entrepreneurial activity and recognizes leaders and visionaries who demonstrate innovation, financial success and personal commitment as they create and build world-class businesses.

Positive same-store sales in 12 of 14 merchandise categories at Lowe’s pushed third-quarter profits up 76%.

Lowe's reported third-quarter net income of $396 million, up 76% from earnings of $225 million a year ago on revenues that increased 2% to $12.07 billion, ahead of consensus estimates of $11.93 billion. Same-store sales increased 1.8%.

Lowe’s president and CEO Robert Niblock called the results solid and said the company is focused on improving execution, delivering value and increasing product differentiation.