Corporate Governance

Publix Supermarkets’ sales and profit rose in the fourth quarter amid continued expansion.      Publix’s net earnings for the fourth quarter rose 4.5% to $544.5 million, from $521.1 million in the year-ago period.   Sales rose 11.1% to $9.1 billion. (The additional week in the fourth quarter of 2016 increased sales by 7.4%.) Same-store sales increased 2.2%.  

Strengthened by strong holiday performance, a steadily recovering housing market and an increasingly omnichannel approach, Lowe¹s reported fourth quarter net sales of $15.8 billion, up 19.2% from $13.2 billion in the same quarter a year ago.   Net earnings for the quarter swelled to $663 million, up from $11 million in the fourth quarter of 2015.   Comparable sales increased 5.1% in the quarter.  

The final clearance sale is already underway at Macy’s store in downtown Minneapolis.     Macy’s Inc. has officially completed the sale of its Minneapolis property to 601W Companies for $59 million in cash. The store is expected to close this spring.       The department store retailer will record a gain for the property of approximately $47 million in first quarter 2017. The gain was originally anticipated and included in 2017 earnings guidance previously provided by the company.

Higher customer spending and lower costs help drive better-than-expected fourth quarter sales and profit at Dollar Tree.   The discounter’s solid quarterly performance capped a year in which it opened 584 new stores and exceeded $20 billion in sales.    Dollar Tree reported net sales of $5.64 billion for the quarter ended Jan. 28, up 5.0% from $5.37 billion in the year-ago period.  

It’s been a while since Lamps Plus Inc. opened a new store, since 2009 to be specific.   But that will change this summer, when the retailer opens a store at The Arboretum, an open-air marketplace in Austin, Texas. The location will be the nation’s largest lighting retailer’s 39th store and third in Texas.   

Trademark Property Co. has named Angela Hall to serve as general manager and marketing director at two of its newest properties in Fort Worth — Waterside and WestBend.   Hall recently directed the grand opening of Waterside, a 63-acre mixed-use property. At WestBend, another mixed-use development in the city’s University District, she supported leasing efforts and event programming.    Prior to joining Trademark last year, Hall was marketing director at Vestar.

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Best Buy Corp. came up short on top line growth in its fourth quarter amid problems with product availability. But its income topped expectations, helped by operational improvements and store closures.    The consumer electronics retailer on Wednesday issued a first-quarter forecast that missed Wall Street's expectations. It also detailed the next phase of its turnaround, which includes expanding its in-home advisory program, accelerating growth in Canada and Mexico, and more cost cutting.  

The Conference Board announced a new high for consumer confidence in February, which reached its highest level since July 2001.   The index now stands at 114.8, up from 111.6 in January.