Finance & Capital Management

DALLAS — Zale has named Beth Pritchard to its Board effective March 9. This appointment will increase the total number of board seats to eight.

Fort Meyers, Fla. -- Chico's FAS reported that its fourth quarter earnings rose a better-then-expected 21%, helped by a strong performance of its White House | Black Market brand.

For the quarter, the chain posted a profit of $25.1 million, up from $20.7 million a year earlier.

Sales rose 20% to $569.2 million. Same-store sales increased 8.7%. By division, the Chico's/Soma Intimates brands' comparable sales increased 5.5% and White House | Black Market same-store sales increased 15.4%.

After 30 years in the drug store sector, Michael Bloom left CVS Caremark in September 2011 to become president and COO of Family Dollar Stores. The extreme-value chain has adopted an aggressive growth strategy in recent years, and plans to open 450 to 500 stores in 2012.

Family Dollar is equally committed to improving existing locations. Under its ambitious store-reinvention program, an estimated 1,000 locations are scheduled to be renovated, relocated or expanded this year.

By Stephen Wyss

As retailers eye avenues for growth in 2012, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) will be a key area of interest and activity.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — TJX Cos. is headed for a strong 2012, thanks to fourth-quarter sales and profit growth. The company reported that its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 42% to $475.3 million, from $334.4 million a year earlier. The owner of Marshalls, HomeGoods and T.J. Maxx also announced plans to repurchase up to $1.3 billion of stock this fiscal year.

For the quarter, sales rose 6% to $6.7 billion. Same-store sales increased 7%.

There has been lots of buzz and comment over Wal-Mart Stores’ fourth quarter fiscal results. While the chain’s U.S. sales are rebounding, its quarterly profit and sales fell short of Wall Street expectations and its forecasts suggest that results in this quarter and fiscal year may again disappoint analysts.

Here are some interesting comments from Natalie Berg, global research director, Planet Retail, on the chain’s results:

WASHINGTON — Retailers hoping to see a boost in sales this tax season may be out of luck as more Americans this year plan to save their refunds.

The National Retail Federation's tax returns consumer survey, conducted by BIGinsight, found that 43.8% of those expecting refunds will save some of that money, up from 42.l% who said so last year and the most in the survey’s nine-year history. Two-thirds (66.2%) of tax payers are expecting a refund this year, the exact same as last year.

New York City -- Iconix Brand Group reported that its fourth-quarter net income rose 23% on increased sales. The company also announced it was forming a joint venture with Reliance Brands Limited, a part of the Reliance Industries Group, to expand in India. Iconix currently has other similar partnerships in Greater China, Europe and Latin America.

Iconix said its net income totaled $27.2 million in the three months ended Dec. 31, up from $22.1 million in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 8.5% to $95.5 million, from $88 million.