Strategy

DALLAS — Tuesday Morning  reported fourth-quarter net sales of $194.8 million, a decrease of 3% from last year's fourth-quarter net sales of $200.8 million. Comparable-store sales for the quarter decreased by 4.5%, which was comprised of a 5.4% decrease in traffic and a 0.9% increase in ticket.

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — Whirlpool Corp. announced that it was inducted into the Made in the USA Foundation's Hall of Fame at an awards dinner on July 2 in Santa Monica, Calif. Whirlpool was the winner of the Large Kitchen Appliances Category.

London — A Wednesday report by the Financial Times said that Citigroup Inc. may retain its store credit card unit, after trying to divest it earlier.

The $41 billion unit could be moved out of Citi Holdings, according to the report, over to its core credit card operations.

Citi, whose store credit card unit has such clients as Zale, Home Depot, Macy’s and Sears, has not commented on the reports.

Milford, Conn. — The Subway restaurant chain announced that a franchisee in Toledo, Ohio, has opened the brand's 8,000th non-traditional location— in a two million-sq.-ft. automobile assembly facility that produces Jeep and Chrysler vehicles.

The Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) is taking place this week (July 10 – 14) in Los Angeles, with some 15,000 from around the globe in attendance at the Staples Center. It’s a huge event, with over 100 breakout sessions each day, 22 regional keynotes and country breakouts. To kick-off the show, CEO Steve Ballmer said that, thanks to partners, Windows 7 has sold more than 400 million licenses in less than two years, and is still the fastest-selling operating system in history.

Here are some  other interesting tidbits from the conference:

By Daniel Burrus, burrus.com

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreen Co. said Wednesday its board has authorized a new $2 billion stock buyback program.

The drugstore retailer completed a previously announced $1 billion stock buyback program and now has approved a new $2 billion share repurchase program that expires Dec. 31, 2015.
 

SAN FRANCISCO — Levi's announced that it has appointed Paul Zadoff as its new SVP wholesale commercial operations for the Americas. In this role, Zadoff will be responsible for developing and implementing effective strategies to drive long-term sustainable revenue growth, as well as ensuring the integration of a consistent consumer experience across the brand's wholesale commercial operation channels in the Americas.