Finance & Capital Management

New York -- Retail sales growth in the United States will rebound from the third quarter this holiday season, but will be down on the previous  two years' robust gains, according to a new report by Moody's Investors Service. The study, "Holiday Sales Will Overcome the U.S. Fiscal Policy Grinch," also finds that earnings growth will be slightly stronger.

Best Buy on Tuesday continued its string of negative same store stores sales, posting a 4% decline at U.S. stores, and recorded a worse than expected profit.

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.

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%.

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.

Surprisingly strong third quarter same store sales growth at Chico’s was attributed to a blend of compelling fall fashion assortments and effective marketing.

Nashville, Tenn. -- Kirkland's Inc. lost $416,000 for the period ended Oct. 27, compared with a profit of $1.2 million a year earlier. Analysts had predicted a bigger loss.

Revenue inched down to $96.7 million from $97.1 million. Same-store sales were down 4.7%.

Kirkland's also announced that president and CEO Robert Alderson is taking a temporary medical leave of absence, starting on Monday. SVP and CFO Mike Madden will serve as acting president and CEO until Alderson returns.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe’s has named former Best Buy executive Marise Kumar SVP of strategy and modeling. In her new capacity, Kumar will report to Robert J. Gfeller, customer experience design executive.

Kumar will identify opportunities that positively impact the customer experience. She will work closely with leaders in customer experience and across the organization to ensure opportunities are practical, financially valid and create a compelling experience for customers across all channels.