Strategy

New York City -- Darden Restaurants plans to roughly double the size of LongHorn Steakhouse during the next 10 years. 

Speaking at Barclay’s Retail & Restaurants Conference in New York City, Darden president and COO Drew Madsen said LongHorn Steakhouse, Olive Garden and Seasons 52 would help drive the company’s growth going forward. Darden want to expand LongHorn Steakhouse, which currently has some 345 locations, to 600 to 800 units over the next decade.

Issaquah, Wash. -- Costco Wholesale Corp. said Tuesday that its board of directors has approved a $4 billion share buyback program. The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 17% to 24 cents, up from 20.5 cents.

The share buyback program expires in April 2015 and replaces a previous plan set to expire in July which had $800 million remaining.

Philadelphia -- Destination Maternity Corp. announced the hiring of Chris Daniel as its president, effective June 1.

Daniel will report directly to Ed Krell, CEO, and will have responsibility for all merchandising, design, marketing, visual, sourcing and branding functions of the company. In connection with the hiring of Daniel, Krell, who held the additional title of president on a temporary basis since the departure of the company's former president, will relinquish that title.

Roseville, Calif. -- Revionics, Roseville, Calif., a leading provider in retail life cycle price-optimization solutions, announced that Fairway Market has selected the Revionics Price Optimization solution for base pricing.

New York City -- Jones Group's net income fell 34% in the first quarter, weighed down by higher costs and charges tied to an acquisition.

Jones Group earned $25.9 million, compared with $39.4 million a year ago.

Jones Group said its quarterly results included about $11 million in costs and charges tied to its Stuart Weitzman acquisition and other restructuring and strategic review costs. Last year's quarter included costs and charges totaling approximately $3 million.

New York City -- Consumer confidence recovered somewhat in April, though the impact of rising gasoline prices is still evident, according to data released Tuesday by the Conference Board.

The confidence index hit 65.4 in April, from an upwardly revised 63.8 in March. The reading is still below the 72.0 mark of February.

New York City -- Wal-Mart Stores is making progress bringing items and shoppers back to its U.S. stores, president and CEO Mike Duke said Tuesday at the Barclays Capital analyst conference in New York City. 

Duke noted that improving the chain’s U.S. same-store sales remains its top priority. He said the chain is on its way to having the right assortment.

New York City -- Speaking at the Barclays Capital analyst conference in New York City on Tuesday, Kroger Co. chairman and CEO David Dillon said grocery prices are rising slightly. He also said the chain may benefit from rising fuel prices because the discounts it offers on gasoline could attract more shoppers.

Grocery prices have gone up approximately 2%, Dillon said, in what he called "the low side of moderate" inflation, since late last year as suppliers deal with higher commodity and energy costs, the Associated Press reported.

New York City -- Ikea announced that its 415,000-sq.-ft. store in Centennial, Col., will open on July 27.

“The excellent construction progress made this past fall and winter by Saunders Construction and the subcontractors -- as well as professional and timely reviews by local authorities -- created an opportunity for us to open much earlier than originally envisioned,” said Ikea project construction manager Doug Wolfe.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot reported a first quarter loss of $5.4 million, down from a profit of $29.5 million in the prior-year period, amid weaker sales and a higher tax rate.

Total company sales for the quarter were $2.97 billion, down 3% from last year.