Finance & Capital Management

Birmingham, Ala. -- Hibbett Sports Inc. said Friday that its fiscal first-quarter net income increased 24% on higher demand for sneakers and other athletic gear. The retailer also raised its profit outlook for the year.

For the three months through April 28, Hibbett earned a better-than-expected $26.4 million, up from $21.3 million in the same quarter last year.

Grapevine, Texas -- GameStop said Thursday that net income for the quarter ended April 28 slid to $72.5 million, from $80.4 million in the same period last year, negatively impacted by weakened demand in the video game market.

Sales for the quarter declined 12.2% to $2 billion, compared with $2.28 billion in the prior year quarter. As previously announced, same-store sales dropped 12.5%.
 

Minot, N.D. -- Chattanooga, Tenn.-based CBL & Associates Properties announced it has acquired Dakota Square Mall in Minot, N.D.

CBL acquired the property from the Lightstone Group.

Nashville, Tenn. -- Kirkland's first-quarter profit dropped 38% amid promotions and price cuts. The company also issued disappointing predictions for the current quarter and full year.

Kirkland’s said it earned $2 million for the quarter ended April 28, down from $3.2 million last year.

Sales rose 3.6% to $97.8 million from $94.4 million. Same-store sales edged down 1.2%.

The home décor chain said it increased marketing to counter a drop in sales.

GRAPEVINE, Texas — Decreased demand for new video game hardware and software contributed to GameStop's 12.2% sales decline in global sales during the first quarter of 2012. Total global sales for the first quarter of 2012 were $2 billion compared with $2.28 billion in the prior year quarter, a decrease of 12.2%. As announced last week, consolidated comparable-store sales decreased 12.5% compared to the prior year quarter.

Seattle -- Starbucks Corp. announced a series of management changes that it said it was undertaking to accelerate its innovation and growth. The changes come after Starbucks missed its global sales forecasts in April, mainly due to a downturn in Europe.

The company named Craig Russell, the senior VP U.S. Store Services, as senior VP of the Global Coffee division.

Sam Club president and CEO Ros Brewer on Thursday named Charles Redfield as Sam’s newest EVP merchandising to replace Linda Hefner who will relocate to Chicago, according to an internal announcement.

New York -- Although the adoption of social media by sales, marketing and customer service departments continues to grow rapidly, by the end of 2012, only 50% of Fortune 1000 companies will receive a worthwhile return on investment from their social customer relationship management (CRM) initiatives, according to Garner.