Finance & Capital Management

Retail sales during January offered a mix bag of results and made it rather tricky to determine how much results were influenced by harsh winter weather, gift card redemption rates, a still shaky economic recovery and individual company strategies.

Miami -- Walmart Latin America CEO Eduardo Solorzano said Thursday in a speech that Walmart is using the company's expertise in sustainability as a means for profitable growth. 

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Thursday by the Institute for Supply Management said that the U.S. service sector, which includes retailers, grew in January at the fastest pace in five years. The report, along with other data, suggests a growing economy and stronger hiring.

The private trade group said its index of service sector activity rose to 59.4 last month. That was up sharply from December's reading of 57.1. It was the fourteenth straight month of growth and the highest reading since August 2005.

Cherry Hill, N.J. -- TD Bank announced it is building a net-zero energy bank location, in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, defines a net-zero energy building as a building that produces and exports in a year at least as much renewable power as the total energy it uses.)

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation said Thursday that it has made changes to its organizational structure, promoting Carleen Kohut from senior VP and CFO to the position of COO.

Also Susan Newman, VP, conferences, has been promoted to senior VP conferences, and Mike Gatti, formerly senior VP communications, has been named senior VP member relations.

Sunbury, Pa. -- Weis Markets reported Thursday that net income for fiscal 2010 increased 8.7% to $68.3 million, compared with $62.8 million in the prior year.

Sales for the year increased 4.1% to $2.6 billion. Same-store sales edged up 1.0%.

Weis Markets currently operates 164 stores in its home state of Pennsylvania and in Maryland, New York, New Jersey and West Virginia.

Plymouth Meeting, Pa. -- Fameco Real Estate, LP said it has been appointed by St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center, in Paterson, N.J., as exclusive leasing agent for the new retail component to be constructed at the St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center and Children’s Hospital campus.

Northbrook, Ill. -- Hilco Real Estate said Thursday it has formed Hilco Real Estate Managed Asset Resolutions to provide turnkey loan servicing to lenders and other real estate investing entities on their most deeply-distressed loans and REO assets.

Jerry T. Hudspeth has joined Hilco as CEO of the new group. Joining Hudspeth on the leadership team are Ronald M. Lubin, Edmund H. Terry and Michael Tsandilas.

New York City -- Dillard’s was the clear winner in the department store category in January, posting a same-store sales increase of 6%, which edged results from both Macy’s and Saks.

J.C. Penney Co. was the big disappointment, as same-store sales dropped an unexpected 1.2%. A survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters produced a consensus estimate of same-store sales up 1.8%.

The retailer said January sales were impacted by lower levels of clearance inventory as well as by adverse weather conditions.

Woonsocket, R.I. -- CVS Caremark Corp. reported Thursday that profit for the fourth quarter fell 2%. The company cited client losses and fewer Medicare prescription drug program members for the lackluster performance.

Net income declined to $1.03 billion, compared with $1.05 billion in the year-ago period. Revenue fell 4% to $24.77 billion. Wall Street expected $24.98 billion in revenue.