Strategy

St. Louis -- Brown Shoe Co., which will soon change its name to Caleres, reported a strong first quarter, with net earnings rising 24.8% to $19.3 million amid better-than-expected same-store sales and strong margins.

Net revenue rose 1.9% to $602.3 million from $591 million in the year ago period. Same-store sales rose 3.1%.

Gross margin of 41.3% was up approximately 30 basis points year-over-year, while operating margin of 5.0% was up approximately 10 basis points.

Carpinteria, Calif. – America’s love affair with credit cards continues heating up. According to The Nilson Report, purchase volume at merchants for general purpose-type consumer and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid cards issued in the U.S. totaled $4.91 trillion in 2014, up 8.4% from 2013.

Credit cards increased their market share in purchase volume compared to debit and prepaid cards to 53.59% in 2014, up from 52.95% in 2013.

City of Commerce, Calif. - 99 Cents Only Stores has named Andrew Giancamilli, chairman of the company’s board of directors, as interim president and CEO, replacing Stéphane Gonthier, who has resigned.

Seattle – Amazon.com is hiring for more than 6,000 full-time jobs across its U.S. fulfillment network to meet growing customer demand. Employees will pick, pack and ship customer orders.

Columbus, Ohio – DSW Inc. beat Wall Street expectations with first quarter profits that were aided by a reduction in clearance-priced merchandise. Net income in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 rose 22% to $47.37 million, from $38.64 million a year earlier.

Net sales grew 9% to $655.49 from $598.95 million. Same-store sales improved 5.1%.

Zaandam, Netherlands – Global grocery conglomerate Ahold N.V. had a successful first quarter of fiscal 2015, reporting growth in overall net income and in U.S. market share. Net income more than quadrupled to $230.74 million from $54.16 million, aided by the elimination of discontinued operations from the same period a year earlier.

Boston – Online specialty retailer Karmaloop Inc. has named Seth Haber as CEO. Haber is the former co-owner and director of Agenda Trade Shows.

Haber's appointment follows the recent acquisition of Karmaloop by Comvest Partners and CapX Partners, which includes all of Karmaloop's businesses; Karmaloop.com, PLNDR, Kazbah and Karmaloop Europe. Comvest and CapX will acquire Karmaloop as part of the company's voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. The sale is expected to close in early June.
 

London - Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. has named Marcel Ostwald to the newly created role of senior VP, menswear. Ostwald spent the last 11 years at Hugo Boss, where his most recent title was senior head of creative management and concept design for Boss Sportswear.

Ostwald’s appointment, effective Aug. 1, fills a key role in Michael Kors’ growing menswear business. Ostwald will work closely with Michael Kors and Mark Brashear, president of menswear, in developing the creative brand strategy and product vision for the men’s division.

New York - Fairway Group Holdings Corp., the parent company of Fairway Market, moderately shrunk its net loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2015.

The retailer reported net loss of $8.54 million, down 3% from $8.84 million a year earlier. The decrease in the net loss was primarily attributable to a decrease in general and administrative expenses, production center start-up costs and direct store expenses, partially offset by lower gross profit and an increase in the income tax provision, interest expense and store opening costs.

Atlanta - The Home Depot Inc. will host its third annual Hurricane Preparedness Workshops on May 30. The one-day event, held in nearly 700 stores from the Gulf Coast to New England, will help prepare residents in storm-prone regions ahead of hurricane season, which begins June 1.

The free workshops will be held 10-11:30 a.m. local time and cover storm readiness topics including understanding hurricane alerts and categories, creating a storm survival kit, choosing a generator, weathering a hurricane safely and repairing a home after a storm has passed.