Strategy

Secaucus, N.J. -- The Children's Place Retail Stores reported Thursday that profit for the quarter ended April 30 rose 4% to $29.1 million, compared with $27.9 million a year earlier. The retailer cited better product assortment, strong online sales and inventory-control efforts for the improved performance.

Children’s Place also increased the low end of its full-year earnings outlook range, but its 2011 and second-quarter forecasts missed Wall Street's expectations.

San Francisco -- Gap reported Thursday that its first-quarter earnings plummeted 23% as costs rose faster than expected, and the chain dramatically lowered its full-year earnings forecast.

Gap is spending about 20% more to produce each item than it did a year ago -- a much faster rise than it expected, the Associated Press reported.

Gap’s net income was $233 million for the quarter ended April 30, compared with $302 million. The performance was slightly better than analysts expected, however.

New York City -- A report released Thursday by the Real Estate Board of New York showed that some of New York City’s primary shopping corridors are seeing increases in asking rents for available retail space, while others are seeing rents plateau.

Sales at Walmart’s international division increased 11.5% to $27.9 billion, aided to a large degree by a $1.3 billion currency exchange benefit, without which the sales increase would have been a more modest 6.2%.

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Despite progress on several key merchandising initiatives during the first quarter, it wasn’t enough to prevent Walmart from logging a 1.1% decline in same-store sales, losing customer traffic and introducing the possibility the second quarter will bring more of the same. The company’s forecast for second quarter same-store sales envisions a range of possibilities between a 1% decline and 1% increase.

Chesapeake, Va. -- Dollar Tree reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended April 30 rose 59% to $101 million, compared with $63.6 million in the year-ago period. The 2010 figure included a charge of $26.3 million for a retail inventory accounting change.

The retailer raised its sales and profit forecast for the rest of the year.

Revenue increased more than 14% to $1.55 billion, beating Wall Street expectations. Same-store sales rose 7.1%.

SAN FRANCISCO — Williams-Sonoma reported that net income for the quarter ended May 1 jumped 62% to $31.6 million, from $19.5 million a year earlier, topping company expectations.

Revenue rose 7.4% to $770.8 million, better than expected.

Same-store sales, which includes direct-to-consumer revenue, rose 9%. Same-store sales rose 3.1% at the namesake brand, 7.9% at Pottery Barn and a record 11% at Pottery Barn Kids.