Corporate Governance

Framingham, Mass. – The TJX Companies, Inc. reported increased net sales during first quarter fiscal 2014. Revenue rose almost 7% from the same quarter a year earlier to about $6.2 billion, while same store sales grew 2% on top of an 8% increase from last year. Net earnings totaled $453 million.

CEO Carol Meyrowitz said that a flexible business model allowed TJX to have a profitable quarter despite adverse weather conditions. “Flowing the right merchandise at the right time continued to be key to strong merchandise margins,” she said.

San Francisco – Target opened a new Technology Innovation Center in San Francisco, on May 20. The center, located in shared space with the digital marketing agency SapientNitro, employs about 20 people, including some shared SapientNitro employees. Target will use the center to develop mobile and e-commerce services, allowing it to better compete with online-savvy rivals such as Amazon.com.

Pittsburgh – Although Dick’s Sporting Goods reported a year-over-year increase in revenues for first quarter 2013, performance still fell short of Wall Street expectations. The sporting goods retailer reported first quarter revenues of $1.33 billion, a 4% increase from $1.28 billion. However, analysts expected revenues for the quarter to total $1.36 billion.

Net income grew 13%, from $57.2 million to $64.8 million.

Philadelphia – Urban Outfitters, Inc. reported stronger than expected net sales, which drove a 39% increase in net earnings. The specialty retailer reported record total net sales of $648 million during first quarter fiscal 2014, up 14% from $568 million in the same quarter last year. Net earnings for the quarter were $47 million, higher than analyst expectations and up 39% from first quarter fiscal 2013.

Bellevue, Wash. – Real estate development firm Kemper Freeman is moving ahead with a $1.2 billion expansion of The Bellevue Collection, a regional shopping center located in Bellevue, Wash. The expansion will add two million sq. ft. of retail, office, hotel, residential, dining and entertainment space. The currently four million-sq.-ft. property already houses more than 250 stores and restaurants.
 

Columbus, Ohio – Footwear/accessories retailer DSW Inc. opened a new store in Braintree, Mass., on May 18. The new store is located at 250 Granite Street.

DSW currently operates 377 stores in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Matthews, N.C. – Family Dollar presented its annual Strategic IT Partner of the Year award to Trade Area Systems at its IT Strategic Partner last month. In September 2012, Family Dollar implemented the Trade Area Systems TAS Unity solution to give real estate managers mobile access to a database of real estate photos, comments and other relevant data.

Chicago – Almost all of the top 100 public retailers (97%) consider federal, state and local regulations as a risk factor, according to a new analysis of 10K filings from the largest 100 U.S. public retailers by BDO, LLP. Only general economic conditions (100%) was cited by more retailers, and this marks the highest percentage of public retailers citing regulations as a risk in the seven years BDO has been performing this analysis.

Minneapolis – Best Buy reported a net loss of almost 10% for first quarter fiscal 2014, seeing its revenue drop from roughly $10.34 billion the prior year to $9.38 billion. Increased price competition and the closure of 49 large-format stores contributed to the electronics retailer’s decline in revenue. A shift in the Super Bowl, which typically drives TV sales, to the prior quarter and reduced non-core sales also impacted revenue.

The Home Depot shrugged off bad weather, and thanks, in part, to a recovering housing market, the company reported first quarter sales of $19.1 billion, up 7.4% from last year's quarter, which had one less week. 

On a like-for-like basis, comparable store sales for the first quarter were positive 4.3%. U.S. stores comps were positive 4.8%, also on a like-for-like basis.