Finance & Capital Management

Shoppers love a deal – the perception of one anyway – which explains how TJX Companies continues to defy gravity by posting another quarter of strong same store sales growth and improved profitability.

A career that began in 1974 as a Giant Eagle supermarket clerk will end on June 30, 2016 as one of the company’s most instrumental figures in recent decades, president and COO John Lucot, will retire after 42 years of service to the Pittsburgh-area grocer.

Retailers’ margins could be under pressure during the first quarter as a new index tracking promotional selling shows full price sales have declined and promotional activity has increased.

Retailers are relying heavily on discounts and promotions so for this year, continuing the trend from the 2015 holiday season of pulling the promotional lever far too often, according an analysis of $5 billion in consumer transactions from January through March conducted by DynamicAction.

McKesson and Walmart on Monday announced a new generics sourcing agreement Monday alongside and extended distribution contract between the two companies. In a move aimed at improving value and scale for both parties, the agreement will see Walmart and McKesson jointly sourcing generics for their U.S. operations. 

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers operates, owns or has an ownership interest in 42 shopping centers nationwide that encompass 14.3 million square feet. The company’s centers are home to more than 3,000 stores operated by 470 different retailers, which affords Tanger President and CEO Steve Tanger a unique vantage point on the retail industry. He spoke recently with Chain Store Age about the outlet shopping industry his father pioneered 35 years ago.

J.C. Penney continued a pattern set by Macy’s, Kohl’s and Nordstrom and reported dismal first quarter sales as traffic declined. Penney’s sales for the quarter fell to 1.6% to $2.81 billion, below analysts’ forecasts of $2.92 billion, from $2.86 billion in the year-ago quarter, as traffic declined and cool weather dampened demand for apparel. Same-store sales slipped 0.4%.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is no fan of Amazon, its founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, and The Washington Post, which Bezos also owns. Trump told Fox News personality Sean Hannity that "Amazon is getting away with murder, tax-wise. He's using The Washington Post for power so that the politicians in Washington don't tax Amazon like they should be taxed.”

J.C. Penney’s corporate headquarters in Plano, Texas, saved more than $100,000 in 2015 by using an ice-based energy storage. The system, IceBank from Calmac, is one of the largest in the world, producing and storing nearly 4MW of cooling or 2.4 million pounds of ice each night. The technology has been in place at the retailer’s 1.8 million sq.-ft. headquarters for 25 years. Due to its design, it is still as efficient now as the first day it was incorporated.