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Finance & Capital Management

  • Has Walmart really turned the corner on comps?

    Walmart gave investors an early Christmas gift earlier this week in the form of a long-awaited third-quarter same-stores sales increase, then ruined the holiday spirit by coming up a penny short of analysts’ earnings estimates.

  • Programmed for Savings

    Specialty bedding retailer Mattress Firm has reduced its utility costs by more than $1 million by using an automated energy management system to control its HVAC and lighting.

  • New York & Co. loss widens in Q3

    New York City -- New York & Co. reported Thursday that its loss widened in the third quarter to $6 million, from $4 million last year.

    Sales dropped to $216.7 million, compared with $238.2 million a year earlier. Same-store sales decreased 5.2%.

  • Fresh & Easy set to hire for 20 new stores opening

    El Segundo, Calif. -- Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market announced it is hiring for more than 20 stores that are set to open early next year.

    The company expects to hire more than 600 employees for the new stores, which will be opening in California and Nevada.
     

  • Half Price Books on Upward Track

    At a time when many bookstores, independents and chains, are struggling, Half Price Books remains on an upward trajectory, adding stores and expanding into new markets. The company opened its first store in 1972 in a converted, 1,000-sq.-ft. laundromat in Dallas, and now operates 113 stores across 16 states. It is the largest family-owned new and used bookstore chain in the United States.

  • No dog days for PetSmart in Q3

    PHOENIX — Even in a tough economy, consumers are reluctant to cut back spending on their pets, as was made clear by PetSmart's whopping 32% growth in earnings and strong sales performance during the third quarter.

    The retailer reported reported earnings of 50 cents per share, up 32% compared with 38 cents per share in the third quarter of 2010. Net income totaled $56 million in the third quarter of 2011, compared with $46 million in the third quarter of 2010.

  • The liability potential of layaway revealed

    By Donna L. Wilson and Kirk D. Jensen

    Illustrating the adage that no good deed goes unpunished, retailers offering financially-strapped or credit-challenged consumers the option of layaway are facing criticism and threats of litigation and regulatory scrutiny. 

  • Focus on: Urban Development

    An early November announcement that an area of downtown Atlanta would become the site of a multi-modal transit hub was welcome news to anyone who has ever sat in the southern city’s many traffic snarls.

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