Strategy

Bentonville, Ark. -- Walmart on Tuesday joined with CEOs from more than a dozen global companies to sign new commitments that accelerate innovation in sustainable agriculture and recycling. The pledges kicked off Walmart’s first-ever Sustainable Product Expo, a three-day collaboration to expand the availability of products that sustain people and the environment. Together, the participating suppliers represent more than $100 billion in sales at Walmart.

Foot Locker Foundation, the charitable arm of Foot Locker, announced the 20 recipients of the Foot Locker Scholar Athletes Program. Each student will receive $20,000 in college scholarships, totaling $400,000.

The scholarship program, funded by the Foot Locker Foundation and administered by DoSomething.org, honors students who demonstrate academic excellence and exemplify strong leadership skills in sports and within their communities. To date, the program has awarded $1.2 million to help deserving high school student athletes pay for school.

Tuesday Morning Corporation has added Frank M. Hamlin, EVP of marketing at Guitar Center, and Sherry M. Smith, who most recently served as EVP and CFO of Supervalu, to its board.

Hamlin will serve on the nominating and governance committee, while Smith will serve on the audit and compensation committee.

Carle Place, N.Y. – A shift in the Easter holiday from the third to the fourth quarter and severe weather negatively impacted financial results at 1-800-Flowers.com during the third quarter of fiscal 2014. 1-800-Flowers reported a net loss of $1.42 million, compared to net profit of $2.64 million in the prior fiscal year.

Net sales dropped 9% to $139.92 million, from $144.55 million.

Coppell, Texas – The Container Store increased net income by about 800% year-over-year during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, to $18.34 million from $2.09 million. A substantial drop in effective tax rate, as well as lower net interest expense, helped drive the impressive growth in net income.

Net sales slipped from $217.02 million to $216.82 million, while same-store sales climbed 1.4%. The company cited severe weather as reducing sales.

eBay continues to strengthen its position in global commerce, as the company reported a 14% increase in revenue for the first quarter ended March 31 to $4.3 billion compared to the same period last year.

Total company enabled commerce volume (ECV) increased 24% in the quarter to $58 billion. Mobile ECV advanced 70% to $11 billion representing 19% of volume. Mobile downloads since inception exceeded 240 million and attracted 6.5 million new customers in the quarter. Cross-border trade grew 24%, representing $13 billion, or 22%, of total company ECV.

Seattle -- REI's members recently elected two new directors to represent their interests on the co-op's board of directors.

Karen E. (Kari) Glover and Sharon Philpott were elected to three-year terms and Cheryl Scott was re-elected to a three-year term. Earlier in the year, the REI board re-appointed Chloe Harford and Matt Compton to one-year terms.

Walmart has gathered CEOs from more than a dozen global companies to sign new commitments that accelerate innovation in sustainable agriculture and recycling. The pledges kicked off Walmart’s inaugural Sustainable Product Expo, a three-day collaboration to expand the availability of products that sustain people and the environment.

Together, the participating suppliers represent more than $100 billion in sales at Walmart.