Finance & Capital Management

Walgreens has named Sona Chawla, currently president of e-commerce, as president of digital and chief marketing officer. In this new role, Chawla will lead a newly created digital and marketing division, establishing an integrated digital, enterprise-wide marketing and customer loyalty and insights group to advance Walgreens “Well Experience” strategy.

Toronto -- Lowe's Canada announced it has completed changes to the company's senior leadership team and is positioned to continue to grow the company across Canada.  

The new appointments include:

Nick Padovano was appointed to the newly created position of head of operations and supply chain.. Most recently, he was senior VP, store operations at The Bay/Lord and Taylor.

San Francisco -- Williams-Sonoma Inc.'s on Thursday reported that its third-quarter profit rose a better-then-expected 16% as same-store sales increased across all its brands. The company also raised its full-year view.

The electronic currency known as bitcoin allows small- and medium-size companies to reach more customers by opening new markets that were previously unreachable, the co-founder of a company that allows businesses to use bitcoins said in testimony this week before two Senate subcommittees. And it appears that federal authorities are open to its development.

Minneapolis -- Target Corp.'s third-quarter net income fell 47%, hurt by costs related to its Canadian expansion. Its adjusted profit beat analysts' estimates, but sales fell short. The retailer lowered its full-year adjusted earnings forecast.

For the three months ended Nov. 2, Target earned $341 million, or 54 cents per share, down from $637 million in the year ago period. Removing Canada-related expansion costs and other items, earnings were 84 cents per share.

Lowe's Canada has restructured its senior leadership team ahead of plans to continue growing its footprint in Canada.

New York — The United States Postal Service has signed an agreement to occupy 8,440 sq. ft. of retail space at 333 East 14th Street in Manhattan, according to the Feil Organization.

The Peter Stuyvesant branch of the U.S.P.S. inked the 10-year sublease for the space, which includes 6,940 sq. ft. on the ground floor and 1,500 sq. ft. of basement. It is a relocation of the Postal Service’s existing 432 East 14th Street branch.

Continued sales momentum at Stein Mart helped drive the company’s third quarter results, which saw both net and same-store increases.

The company reported net income for the quarter of $28 thousand compared to a net loss of $1.7 million in 2012.

"Our earnings continue to improve as a result of our continued sales momentum," said CEO Jay Stein. "We have been very focused on refining our brands, pricing and sales execution and the improvements are evident in our results."