Marketing

New York -- J.C. Penney has set a March 15 launch date for the debut of its Joe Fresh in-store shop concept. The Canadian fast-fashion apparel brand will be presented in dedicated shops, ranging from 750 sq. ft. to 2,500 sq. ft., in nearly 700 J.C. Penney stores.

The Joe Fresh collection will focus on modern basics for women, with everything priced under $70, according to J.C. Penney.

Canton, Mass. -- Casual Male Retail Group will formally change its corporate name to Destination XL Group, Inc. to reflect the company's transition to its Destination XL format stores and DestinationXL.com e-commerce site. The name change will be effective as of Feb. 25.
   
As previously announced, the company's ticker symbol was changed to "DXLG" effective Dec. 5, 2012.
 

New York -- Wal-Mart de Mexico expects to spend up to $1.4 billion on investments in 2013. But the chain declined to discuss how many stores it will open.

The chain did say that it expects to increase total store space by 8% to 9% in Mexico and 6% in Central America this year.

"We think that the number of stores does not communicate much," said CEO Scot Rank in response to a question by an analyst, Reuters reported.

Car Charging Group, an electric vehicle charging company, has named William Fields, former president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores to its board of directors.  

During his 25-year career with Wal-Mart, Fields was responsible for over 2,000 stores and 600,000 employees, and directed strategic planning in operations, merchandising, marketing, and logistics.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Alexa Latimer Dillard, wife of Dillard's founder, the late William Dillard, has passed away.

Born in Nashville, Arkansas on Oct. 30, 1916, Alexa Latimer married William T. Dillard on June 9, 1940. Dillard was known for her quick wit and eye for great merchandise, but more importantly for her unmatched devotion to her family, according to the company. 

Walmart overcame a meager 1% same stores sales increase at U.S. stores to deliver better than expected fourth quarter profits on Thursday.

The company said total sales increased 3.9% to $127.1 billion compared to $122.3 billion last year. Without the benefit of a favorable currency exchange situation, sales would have increased a lesser 3.7% to $126.8 billion. Full year sales increased by 5% to $466.1 billion compared to last year’s total of $443.8.

ATLANTA -- Newell Rubbermaid announced it will reaffirm its fiscal year 2013 outlook, as provided in its fourth quarter 2012 earnings press release dated Feb.1, 2013, during its presentation Thursday at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) conference.

The company’s guidance and key assumptions for the full year 2013 are as follows:

• Core sales increase of 2% to 4%.

• Net sales are expected to grow 1% to 3%

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — HSNi Inc. reported that its fourth quarter net sales grew 7% over the prior year to $982.9 million. HSN's net sales increased 7% to $683.8 million, including 11% growth in digital sales. Cornerstone's net sales for the 13-week period in 2012 increased 6% to $299.1 million, including 14% growth in digital sales, compared to the 14-week period in 2011.

GAAP diluted EPS from continuing operations increased 27% to $1 compared with 79 cents in the prior year. 

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe’s announced that Lara Lee will join the company as SVP customer experience design, effective Feb 25. Lee will report to Robert J. (Bob) Gfeller, customer experience design executive.

Lee will be responsible for translating business strategies into integrated, multi-channel experiences that deliver value to home improvement consumers. Named a “Master of Innovation” by BusinessWeek in 2006, Lee has driven customer-centric business transformation for more than 20 years.

Whirlpool has appointed Diane Dietz, executive VP and chief marketing officer of Safeway, to its board of directors, effective immediately.

"Diane Dietz's history of leadership in the consumer products industry makes her an outstanding addition to our board," said Jeff Fettig, Whirlpool chairman and CEO. "We know her breadth of experience in driving sales and building successful brands will be invaluable to our board of directors and Whirlpool Corporation."