Finance & Capital Management

Camp Hill, Pa. — Rite Aid on Thursday morning posted a same-store sales increase of 1.1% for the four weeks ended Jan. 22, including a 2.2% lift across the front-end and growth of 0.6% in pharmacy comparable sales.

Prescription count at comparable stores was flat compared with the prior-year period.

Total drug store sales were $1.9 billion, which is flat as compared with the same period last year. Prescription revenue accounted for 69.1% of drug store sales, and third-party prescription revenue represented 93.3% of pharmacy sales.

Brentwood, Tenn. -- Tractor Supply Co. reported that net sales for the fourth quarter increased 19.7% to $1.03 billion from $862.5 million in the prior year's fourth quarter. Same-store sales increased 13.1%, compared with a 0.7% increase in the prior-year period. 

Net income for the quarter was $50.2 million, or 67 cents per diluted share, compared with $37.3 million, or 51 cents per diluted share, in the prior year's fourth quarter. 

Chicago -- Urban Retail Properties, LLC announced the appointment of John N. Christen as executive VP director of new business development.

Christen has been actively engaged in the commercial real estate industry in several capacities for over 15 years, most recently as founder of Christen Realty Capital, LLC.
 

NEW YORK — The Motley Fool on Tuesday suggested all three national pureplay drug chains were in a better position today than five years and three years ago based on a metric called the “cash king margin.”

The metric teases out the amount of free cash flow a company actually can use to monetize shareholder value by paying dividends or buying back stocks. Companies that can create cash king margins (calculated by dividing free cash flow by sales) of more than 10% are the most attractive to investors, the Fool surmised.

Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe's will eliminate positions between assistant manager and manager, and hire part-time workers for the busy weekends.

The move will cut about 1,700 middle management jobs in the stores, but will lead to an additional 8,000 to 10,000 part time workers, according to Chris Ahearn, Lowe's VP of public relations. The shake up is expected to take effect Jan. 29.

Cleveland-based Sherwin-Williams reported fourth-quarter net income of $72.9 million, up 11.6% from $65.3 million reported for the same period last year.

Sales for the quarter ended Dec. 31 were $1.89 billion, up 18.8% from $1.59 billion reported for the same period in 2009.

For the full year, the company reported net income of $462.4 million, up 6.1% from $435.8 million for fiscal year 2009.

Sales for 2010 totaled $7.77 billion, up 9.5% from $ 7.09 billion reported last year.

WASHINGTON — The largest retail trade association on Wednesday said that President Obama's State of the Union address recognized the industry's role in job creation.

The National Retail Federation said that the president's "continued support of 'commonsense safeguards,'" which included support of such proposals as swipe fee limits, "will help retailers innovate and support the consumer spending that is crucial to job creation."

New Canaan, Conn. -- The retail industry will grow by 5.1% in 2011, the strongest growth in four years, according to Customer Growth Partners’ 2011 Forecast and Outlook. The New Canaan, Conn.-based consulting and research firm projects that the industry will create over half a million new jobs in 2010, the most of any employment sector, and that retail sales will reach a record level of almost $2.9 trillion.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation welcomed President Obama’s recognition of the importance of the retail industry to job creation in Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, and pledged to work with the White House on initiatives to promote continuation of the nation’s economic recovery.

New York City -- Ikea plans to use solar energy in its store under construction in the Denver suburb of Centennial. Pending governmental permits, installation of solar panels on the store’s roof will begin in February, with completion by grand opening this fall.