Strategy

DSW Inc. exceeded Wall Street expectations for net income and sales in the third quarter.

Net income fell a less than expected 10% to $49.5 million from $54.9 million the same quarter a year earlier, with higher operating expenses and lower pretax income contributing to the decline.

Sales totaled $670 million compared to $633 million in the prior-year quarter and same-store sales rose 2.6%.

Ankeny, Iowa – Casey’s General Stores Inc. will revise its financial statements for fiscal years 2012, 2013 and 2014 and the first quarter of fiscal year 2015, due to a $31.5 million error in how it accounted for excise tax on sales of ethanol fuel. The retailer also stated a fiscal 2015 goal of building or acquiring 72-108 new stores and replacing 25 existing stores.

Fred's Super Dollar has reported total sales for the third quarter of $476.2 million, up 3%. However, Fred's net loss totaled $10.4 million, or minus 28 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $7.3 million, or 20 cents per share in the year-ago period.

Columbus, Ohio – DSW Inc. exceeded Wall Street expectations for net income and sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2014. Net income fell a less than expected 10% to $49.55 million from $54.96 million the same quarter a year earlier, with higher operating expenses and lower pretax income contributing to the decline.    Sales totaled $670 million compared to $633 million and same-store sales rose 2.6%.

Corner Bakery Cafe is in a growth mode. The company, which was acquired in 2011 by Roark Capital Group, an Atlanta-based private equity firm, is entering new markets and opening locations across the country, from New York City to Las Vegas. It will end the year with 185 cafes (114 company-owned and 71 franchised). The company plans to more than double its U.S. footprint by 2017 through a combination of franchised and company-owned cafes.

Gary Price, a restaurant executive with over 20 years of experience, joined Corner Bakery Cafe as president in October 2012.

Gordmans enables growth in underserved markets with new technology platform

When Gordmans Stores Inc., the Omaha, Nebraska-based chain of 95 Midwestern discount stores, decided to expand into underserved markets in the central U.S., the retailer discovered its legacy IT systems would not adequately support its planned growth. Outmoded applications across a range of functions in the enterprise created such problems as the setting of a double-digit limit for location numbering.

In the old days, outlet centers either didn’t offer food options or the pickings were pretty lean. In today’s iteration, however, food often takes center stage.

Villa Enterprises, a 50-year-old multi-brand restaurant operator of banners such as Villa Italian Kitchen, Mo’ Burger, South Philly Steak & Fries and Tinta Mexicana, has set the curve with its “Food Hall by Villa” in Simon’s Arizona Mills Shopping Center in Tempe. In a completely transformed, 13,262-sq.-ft. dining space with 14,280 sq. ft.

Tiffany & Co. reported a better-than-expected increase in same-store sales, mainly due to strong demand for high-end fashion jewelry in North and South America.