Corporate Governance

Tractor Supply Co., the nation’s largest farm-and-ranch retailer, reported big gains in sales and earnings for the fourth quarter and full year.

The company reported nets sales of $1.42 billion in the fourth quarter, up from $1.29 billion in the same quarter last year. Comparable-store sales increased 3.5%.

Net income for the quarter was $95.9 million, up from $79.5 million in the same quarter last year.

Toys “R” Us is launching a nationwide in-store and online awareness campaign encouraging its customers to support the athletes participating the Special Olympics.

Starting Feb. 1, by texting "Cheer" to 80888, customers can make a $5 donation via their mobile device that will help Special Olympics athletes.

As part of its digital strategy, Hudson’s Bay Company has created HBC Digital and appointed Michael Burgess as the newly created group’s president. Burgess will report to the office of the chairman.

HBC Digital will drive the digital commerce and marketing strategy and execution across all channels, in partnership with each of the company’s business units: Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, Hudson’s Bay and HBC Outlets.

Sears Canada, which laid off more than 1,300 employees on Jan. 15, is cutting an additional 624 jobs. The retailer said it is modifying its store structure to improve efficiency and increase the effectiveness of the chain of communication between management and the store associate teams within the stores.

Less than two months after Sam’s Club named a new president and CEO, two of the warehouse club’s top executives are scheduled to weigh in on its digital direction at an event in late February.

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores has promoted Tony Carosello to VP, real estate. Carosello, previously director of real estate operations for the company, will report to Jim Kerr, EVP, CFO.

Walmart Supercenters in California benefit communities by supporting additional job creation, small business growth and more robust sales tax revenues, according to a new economic impact report.

The study was conducted by economist Lon Hatamiya of the Hatamiya Group and the results were announced by Walmart, which is sure to cause opponents of the company to question the validity of the results. That said, key findings of the study show the following:

Solid volume growth and new product sales in North America helped The Hershey Company regain its category leadership position in the candy, mint and gum business with a 30.1% market share.

The company synonymous with chocolate said its fourth quarter sales increased 11.7% to nearly $2 billion and that sales in North America slightly exceeded expectations due to a solid holiday season.

Overstock said that it’s still adjusting to changes Google made to its search engine algorithms, which reduced the online retailer’s ranking in some search results during some periods. As a result, the company has had to emphasize other marketing channels, such as sponsored search.

Although sponsored search has generated revenue growth for the company, Overstock said that the move also incurs higher associated marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue than it had to pay prior to Google making its changes.

Intrix Technology, a leading payment processor, has named Peter N. Matino as chief sales officer, a newly created position.

In his new role, Matino is responsible for building a nationwide sales organization and executing an integrated sales strategy as well as developing and executing corporate marketing strategies.