Finance & Capital Management

New York - Dollar General is considering a plan to build a $60 million distribution center in Bessemer that could create up to 650 jobs, the Birmingham Business Journal reported. 

The new facility would be the 10th distribution center for Dollar General (NYSE: DG), according to Tawn Earnest, senior director of corporate communications for the company. The company is seeking incentives from local governments for the project.

Fortune has released its list of the top 10 Fortune 500 stock performers for 2010, and Dillard's is the lone retailer on the list.

Ranked at number 10, Dillard's, which is ranked at 348 on the Fortune 500, posted a year-to-date stock performance improvement of 97% and a market cap of $2.1 billion.

According to the report, Dillard's sold more merchandise this November than last year, with sales totaling almost $470 million for the month. That marked a 7% increase over last year.

The time to ponder that question is when everything is going right, which pretty much seems to be the case at Target these days. The company’s stable senior leadership team has articulated a clear strategy that is being well-executed and delivering expectation-exceeding results such as a 5.5% gain in November same-store sales and third quarter earnings per share that surged 28.5% to 74 cents.

Atlanta - U.S. regulators have sued a former sales executive at Carter’s Inc., claiming that he caused the company to misstate earnings by hiding the cost of discounts given to a retailer. 

According to a Monday report by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Joseph Elles induced Kohl’s Corp. to boost purchases from Carter’s from 2004 to March 2009 by granting unauthorized discounts that he didn’t disclose.

Of all the competitive threats facing Walmart, none looms larger in the minds of the retailer’s suppliers than the ongoing expansion and financial success of leading operators in the dollar store segment. That’s according to Walmart suppliers who participated in a survey conducted by Connecting Northwest Arkansas and identified such chains as Dollar General and Family Dollar as the greatest competitive threat to Walmart during the next five years.

Walmart removed all doubt about how it intends to enter Russia this week when it announced the closure of its office in Moscow. The office was opened two years ago to investigate opportunities in the country, but international division president and CEO Doug McMillon said it no longer made business sense to maintain the facility.

ARLINGTON, Va. and WASHINGTON - The National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association both issued statements supporting the final passage of a bipartisan agreement for extending critical individual and business taxes.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Stater Bros. on Wednesday disclosed a more than 4% decrease in sales for fiscal year 2010.

The California supermarket chain said sales for the fiscal year ended Sept. 26 were $3.61 billion, down from $3.77 billion in fiscal year 2009. Sales for the fourth quarter also experience a decline, dropping to $897.4 million, or 3.15%, since the year-ago period.

FORT WORTH, Texas - Pier 1 Imports reported a third-quarter comparable-store sales increase of 10.2% versus last year’s increase of 13.7% and net income of $21 million, or 18 cents per share, compared with last year’s third quarter net income of $38.8 million, or 37 cents per share.

Alex Smith, president and CEO, commented, “With sales and margins exceeding our expectations and the overall leveraging of expenses, we are reporting net income for our fifth consecutive quarter.”

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Office Depot announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell its Office Depot Japan business to Kakuyasu. The transaction also includes an agreement for Kakuyasu to license Office Depot’s trade names, obtain sourcing services and continue to support Office Depot’s global customers in Japan. Kakuyasu is one of the fastest growing and leading multi-channel businesses in Japan with FY 2009 sales of $775 million.

Office Depot Japan was established in 1996 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Office Depot Inc.