Corporate Governance

Lumber Liquidators increased its net income in the third quarter of fiscal 2013 58.4% to $20.4 million, from $12.9 million in the year-ago period.

Net sales grew 24.5% to $254.3 million, from $204.3 million in the same period a year earlier. Same-store sales grew 17.4%, driven by a 9.8% increase in the number of customers invoiced and a 6.9% increase in the average sale.  

Canada Safeway is up for grabs, and the Canadian Competition Bureau is allowing Sobey’s Inc. to proceed with the acquisition of substantially all its assets.

As part of the consent agreement, Sobey’s will divest 23 stores in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Sasketchewan. The deal, announced in June, will cost Sobey’s owner Empire Co. Ltd. about $5.7 billion.

Groupon has elected Jeffrey Housenbold, president and CEO of Shutterfly, to the company’s board of directors.

“We are thrilled to welcome Jeffrey to the Groupon board,” said Ted Leonsis, chairman. “He brings tremendous expertise and energy, as well as a demonstrated history of innovation and leadership. We look forward to his perspective as Groupon continues to grow and evolve.”

Walmart customers can now trade in their tablets at more than 3,600 stores and Sam’s Club locations nationwide. Similar to its new smartphone trade-in program, customers and members can receive up to $300 for their current tablet, which will then be applied toward the purchase of a new tablet.

FedEx anticipates moving more than 22 million shipments around the world on Cyber Monday, Dec. 2 —its busiest day in company history. The 11% year-over-year increase will be driven by online retailers feeding the FedEx Ground and FedEx SmartPost networks.

New York -- Coach reported a decline in first-quarter profit amid declining North America sales. The company had net income of $217.88 million, down from $221.38 million in the previous year.
 
Net sales for the quarter fell 1% to $1.15 billion from $1.16 billion a year ago, below analysts' estimate of $1.19 billion.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation calculated retail industry job gains at 15,200 in September, and 289,000 jobs year-over-year, a 2.4% increase over the same month last year and 2.0% higher than total private sector jobs over the past year.

Ridgefield, Conn. -- Schimenti Construction Company announced it appointed Gregg Bartel as VP of operations. Bartel joins the company from Kohl’s Department Store, where as VP of pre-construction & development, he oversaw site due diligence and development of retail and non-retail construction projects across the United States

Baltimore -- Under Armour announced that COO Kip Fulks has added president of product to his current responsibilities, while Henry Stafford is now serving as president of North America.
   
In the new positions, Fulks will further leverage his leadership experience in product, innovation, supply chain and IT, and Stafford will oversee North America wholesale, retail marketing, global retail and global E-Commerce.
 

New York - Despite having more data and insights into consumer desires and preferences, companies in the U.S. have failed to meaningfully improve customer satisfaction or reverse rising switching rates among their customers. As a result, there is a potential $1.3 trillion of revenue at play in the U.S. market represented by the ‘switching economy’, according to new research released by Accenture.