Finance & Capital Management

Columbus, Ohio -- Express said its fourth-quarter net income rose a better-than-expected 6%, but its full-year projection for earnings came up short as the retailer provided a weak outlook.
   
Express, similar to many other retailers, had less traffic in February, as higher taxes and rising gas prices cut into shoppers’ discretionary spending.
 
For the period ended Feb. 2, Express Inc. earned $63.9 million, up from $60.4 million a year earlier.

First quarter same store sales are expected to increase in the high teens at Cabela’s and drive earnings substantially higher than analysts’ estimates, the retailer said late Tuesday in advance of an investor conference today.

Cabela’s reported a firearms and ammunition driven 12% same store sales increase for its fourth quarter ended December 29, 2012. When those results were released a month ago the company said the favorable trends seen in the fourth quarter had accelerated into the first quarter.

Nokomis, Fla. -- The Sembler Co. announced that it is redeveloping the Nokomis Village Shopping Center, anchored by Publix and located in Nokomis, Sarasota County, Fla.
 
Publix will close on March 30, while other tenants including Anthony’s ladies apparel, Village Pharmacy, Ophelia’s Pasta restaurant, and Saltwater Café remain open during the construction of a new Publix store.

Dick’s Sporting Goods first Field & Stream outdoor specialty store is scheduled to open this fall in the Pittsburgh suburb of Cranberry Township.

Knoxville, Tenn. -- CHM announced that it has broken ground on Knoxville’s first urban, vertical retail complex, University Commons.

The Publix- and Walmart-anchored shopping and dining center will cover 12+ acres, with 211,000 sq. ft. of retail space and parking. Besides the two anchors, an additional 40,000 sq. ft. will be dedicated to smaller retailers and service providers once the project is completed.

Phoenix -- Leslie’s Poolmart will celebrate the grand opening of 13 new locations throughout the United States on March 15.

In total, Leslie's plans to open 48 stores this year, between March and May. With these new stores and its recent acquisition of 24 Warehouse Pool Supply stores in the Houston area, Leslie's will bring its total store count to more than 800 stores nationwide.

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. said it has completed the sale of its entire consumer credit card portfolio to TD Bank Group for $5.7 billion, the gross value of the outstanding receivables at the time of closing.
 

WASHINGTON — The Department of Commerce reported that retail sales for the month of February rose by 1.1% seasonally adjusted month to month.

The newly released figures include nongeneral merchandise categories, such as automobiles, gas stations and restaurants; excluding those, sales rose 0.7%, while rising 0.5% unadjusted year over year. The National Retail Federation noted that sales beat estimates as consumers adapted and adjusted spending in response to higher gas prices and the payroll tax increase.