Corporate Governance

A pullback in promotions, reduced catalog circulation, and unseasonably warm weather helped make for a very disappointing third quarter for Lands' End, whose effort to turnaround its business is having trouble taking hold.

The apparel retailer's sales fell 10% to $334.4 million in the quarter ended Oct. 31, compared to $373.1 million last year.

Net income fell 41% to $10.7 million, compared to $18 million in the third quarter last year.

Express continues to make all the right moves, reporting better than expected results for its third quarter and raising its 2015 outlook.

The specialty apparel retailer reported a profit of $26.3 million, or $0.31 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $14.6 million, or $0.17 per share.

Revenue rose 9.8% to $546.6 million. Total same-store sales, including e-commerce sales, rose 6%. E-commerce sales climbed 6% to $83.8 million.

The nation’s largest supermarket operator reported profit that surpassed Wall Street expectations and raised its annual forecast.

Kroger Co.’s third-quarter earnings rose 18% to $428 million.

Revenue inched up 0.4% to $25.08 billion for the quarter, ended Nov. 7. missing Street forecasts of $25.22 billion. Kroger cited lower fuel prices as impacting sales.

Same-store sales, excluding fuel, rose 5.4%, more than expected. It was the chain’s 48th consecutive quarter of positive same-store sales growth (excluding fuel.)

Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th continues to expand north of the border.

The off-price retailer and Ivanhoé Cambridge announced an agreement to bring four new Saks Off 5th locations to Canada. The stores, the brand’s first in their respective markets, will open in four Ivanhoé Cambridge shopping centers: Tsawwassen Mills, Tsawwassen, B.C., Outlet Collection Winnipeg; Place Ste-Foy, Quebec City; and Montreal Eaton Centre, Montreal.

Here are the details on the four locations:

The chief executives of H&M, Gap Inc. and five other apparel companies are urging world leaders to agree to a strong climate change deal because they fear global warming will drive up their costs by having a negative impact on cotton production, Reuters reported. [Reuters]

Dallas -- Trademark Property Co. begins construction on the unfinished parking garage at Victory Park in Dallas.

The construction is part of phase I redevelopment efforts and will add an additional 22,030 sq. ft. of street-level retail and restaurant space to Victory Park, as well as, a 2,600-sq.-ft. second-floor covered patio connected to a signature restaurant at the northeast corner of the garage, making two sided retail on Victory Park Lane a reality with in downtown Dallas. Completion is slated for summer 2016.

Dan Berthiaume, senior editor of Chain Store Age, recently participated in a one-hour panel discussion, “Game-Changers 2016 Predictions – Part 1,” sponsored by SAP as part of its “Coffee Break with Game-Changers” Internet radio series.

Walmart has kicked off one of its most omnichannel marketing campaigns ever with its Holiday Sing to Salute Military Families.

The nationwide campaign encourages the public to sing a portion of a classic holiday song while capturing it on video, and then post the video on social media channels to show support for members of the military and their families.

American Express Serve announced this week that it and Rite Aid and Dollar General had joined forces to allow American Express Serve account holders to add money to their cards at the retailers’ locations around the country. The two companies join CVS/pharmacy, Family Dollar, Family Dollar, Walmart and 7-Eleven as places where customers can do a Free Cash Reload of their cards.

Sears Holdings Corp. is doing a much better job at cutting costs than at stopping its sales decline.

The retailer’s total revenue in the third quarter, ended Oct. 31, fell 20% to $5.75 billion, from $7.21 billion in the year-ago period, amid store closings and divestitures and a drop in apparel and consumer electronics sales. (Sears had 1,687 stores at the end of the quarter, down from 2,249 a year earlier.)

Total same-store sales were down 8.6%. Kmart same-store sales declined 7.5%. Sears domestic same-store sales fell 9.6%.