Labor & Employment

SALT LAKE CITY — Online discount retailer Overstock.com reported a 19% increase in total net revenue for the first quarter, thanks to a 21% increase in average order size.  

Overstock.com’s total net revenue for the quarter was $312 million, up from $262 million for the first quarter of last year, even though the company reported a small decrease in the number of customer orders. Its net income for the quarter surged to $8 million, up from $2.7 million for the same period last year. 

Dallas -- Jones Lang LaSalle announced it has added the veteran team of Robin Smith and Lance W. Taylor to its retail brokerage team, both as senior VPs and both charged with assisting the firm’s growing client base of both retailers and landlords throughout the Southwest.

The Smith-Taylor team brings with them a two million sq.-ft. portfolio of retail assets that they currently lease on behalf of multiple owners.

Geno Coradini leads Jones Lang LaSalle Retail for the Dallas/Southwest region.

Cleveland-based Sherwin-Williams Co. reported a sales increase of 1.4% in the first quarter ended March 31, thanks to higher volume in the Paint Stores Group.

Net income increased 16% to $116.2 million.

The company's consolidated net sales increased 1.4% to $2.17 billion. The Paint Stores Group saw sales increase 4.0% to $1.17 billion in the quarter. The company pointed to higher architectural paint sales volume across all end-market segments. Comp-store sales for paint stores increased 3.2%.

Washington, D.C. -- Combined Properties announced that Scott Kend has joined the company as senior director of development & acquisitions, charged with leading Combined's efforts to acquire new value-add retail shopping centers and mixed-use development projects on the West Coast.  

Kend will also be responsible for redeveloping portions of Combined's portfolio of retail centers in the Southern California region, as well as working on its mixed-use developments.  

New York -- The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that J.C. Penney is now in talks with Wells Fargo and at least two other investment firms, seeking a $500 million loan to shore up the beleaguered retailer’s cash reserves.

Citing unidentified sources, WSJ said that Penney is also in talks with private-equity firm TPG and with investment company Gordon Brothers, along with Wells Fargo, as Penney casts a wider net to stay afloat.

New York -- A Wednesday report by Women’s Wear Daily said Libby Wadle been named president of the J. Crew brand, charged with overseeing both the retail and direct businesses of J. Crew, Crewcuts and J. Crew factory outlets. She was previously EVP.

Former chief administrative officer James Scully has been promoted to COO.

Essex, Vt. -- EWB Development announced the appointment of Daniel J. Cochran as a new partner and the head of the new Tenant Representation division at EWB.

Cochran’s 25-year retail and outlet background includes Phillips Van Heusen – where he was SVP of real estate and legal – and Coach, where he served as SVP of real estate and construction.

New York -- Macy’s Inc. filed an appeal on Monday, challenging Manhattan state court judge Jeffrey Oing’s Friday ruling that J.C. Penney can sell unbranded Martha Stewart goods in its stores, at least temporarily.

Penney was celebrating the decision that would allow it to sell Martha Stewart items as long as they didn’t carry her name, especially since the products – valued by one analyst at $100 million -- were already manufactured and being stored in warehouses.