Finance & Capital Management

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid announced Thursday changes in its human resources and operations departments.

The 4,700-store chain named Brian Fiala as EVP human resources and Robert Thompson as EVP store operations. Rite Aid also appointed Bill Romine as SVP of the chain’s western division.

Fiala had previously served as EVP store operations, having joined the company in 2007 after working for 24 years at Target. He replaces Steve Parsons, who is leaving the company to take another position, and will report to president and CEO John Standley.

MINNEAPOLIS - The 4.5% increase in same-store sales Target reported for June was at the high end of the company’s expectations and came on top of a prior year increase of 1.7%. The gain was driven primarily by an increase in average transaction size while growth in the overall volume of transactions appeared to moderate somewhat.

Target chairman, president and CEO Gregg Steinhafel said he was very pleased with the company’s performance at the upper end of a guidance range that called for a low-to-mid single-digit improvement.

Now that Walmart has completed its acquisition of a majority stake in South African retailer Massmart a major competitor contends it will need to lay off 8.6% of its work force to improve its competitive position.

That’s according to South African media reports indicating rival Pick n Pay Stores said it was looking to eliminate 3,137 of its 36,673 positions. Conversely, Walmart has said it will create 15,000 jobs in South Africa within five years, implying a fairly robust level of expansion.

New York City -- Discounters and warehouse clubs turned in robust performances in June, led by Costco Wholesale Club, whose same-store sales in the United States rose 12%, while internationally same-store sales jumped 18%. Excluding the impact of inflation in gasoline prices and stronger foreign currencies, Costco said same-store sales in June rose 8%. Its results beat expectations.

Stronger-than-expected retail sales in June had media outlets using words like “soar” and “surge” to describe the gains reported by retailers who disclose monthly results. While it is probably overstating things to characterize increases of 4.5% at Target, 6.7% at Macy’s and 4.8% as Walgreens as anything other than an “increase,” the hyperbole on the part of the media and analysts can be forgiven because everything is relative, and the numbers are fantastic compared with earlier this year.

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid Corp. said Thursday that it has shifted executive VP store operations Brian Fiala to the position of executive VP human resources, responsible for all aspects of human resources, including training, recruitment, talent management, compensation and benefits and labor relations. He will report to John Standley, Rite Aid president and CEO.

Fiala succeeds Steve Parsons, who is leaving Rite Aid to take another position.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Fred's on Thursday reported sales of $179 million for the five weeks ended July 2, representing a relatively flat 0.1% increase, compared with the year-ago period.

Comparable-store sales for the month dropped 0.7%, compared with an increase of 1.7% in the same period last year.

NEW YORK – Department-store retailers turned out solid sales results in June, despite concerns about consumers cutting back on spending.

Macy’s Inc. reported that its total sales for the fiscal month of June increased 7.5% to $2.392 billion from $2.226 billion last year. The retailer reported a same-store sales increase of 6.7% for the month.