Corporate Governance

Home Depot Tuesday reported sales of $20.6 billion for the second quarter of 2012, a 1.7% increase from the second quarter of fiscal 2011. Comparable sales for U.S. stores were positive 2.6%, and overall same-store sales for the second quarter were positive 2.1%.

Net earnings for the world’s largest home improvement retailer were $1.53 billion for the second quarter, which ended July 29. This compares with net earnings of $1.36 billion in the same period a year ago, reflecting a 12.4% increase.

Pure Balance is the name of the “ultra-premium” dry dog food Walmart launched this week.

Glenwillow, Ohio -- Fashion retailer Dots announced Tuesday it has named former Wal-Mart Stores senior VP Lisa Rhodes as its new CEO.
   
Rhodes, who led Wal-Mart’s U.S. apparel merchandising division, has been charged with leading Dots’ march toward 1,000 stores, also announced Tuesday.
    
Prior to her role at Wal-Mart, Rhodes was executive VP and chief merchandising officer for Maurice’s.
   

New York City -- The New York Post reported Tuesday that Sears Holdings Corp. may be mulling over a sale of its Lands End unit. The move would dovetail with the massive restructuring effort the company has launched.

According to the report, chairman Eddie Lampert has been meeting with investors to discuss the divestiture of Lands End.
 

Dallas -- 7-Eleven said Tuesday it will acquire the retail and wholesale assets of San Antonio-based TETCO, which includes company-operated convenience stores in Utah and the Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio areas of Texas.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and closing is expected in November. The acquisition also signals a return to San Antonio for 7-Eleven, where the company had operated stores until 1989.

Purchase, N.Y. -- A SpendingPulse report Tuesday by MasterCard Advisors, in partnership with Wells Fargo, found that July spending at small retailers slowed to 6% year over year. 

This was lower than June’s small retailer growth rate of 8%. The July report also found that with or without food service and gasoline sales, July’s small business growth was the lowest for the past 12 months.

New York CIty -- Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. reported Tuesday that first-quarter profit more than doubled to $68.6 million, from $24.1 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue surged 71% to $414.9 million, after the company opened 76 new stores and grew same-store sales by 37%. Wall Street forecast revenue of $368.3 million.
 

Laval, Quebec -- Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. said Tuesday its subsidiary Circle K Stores will acquire 29 stores in Orlando, Fla., from Florida Oil Holdings.

The transaction is expected to close at the end of August.

The BP-branded stores will be operated by Couche-Tard's Florida Division under the Circle K brand.     

"This is a great opportunity for the Florida Division to strengthen our market share in the Orlando market,” said David Morgan, VP operations, Florida.
 

Washington, D.C. -- Fueled by strength from department stores, electronics and the automobile sector, retail sales advanced 0.8% in July, the first gain in four months, according to a report released Tuesday by the Commerce Dept.

The bigger-than-expected increase followed a 0.7% decline in June that was weaker than first reported. Bloomberg forecast a 0.3% rise in July. The results have buoyed feelings overall that the economy may be improving, albeit at a moderate pace.

Pittsburgh -- Dick's Sporting Goods reported Tuesday that net income for the quarter ended July 28 slid to $53.7 million, from $73.8 million in the same quarter a year ago. The sporting goods retailer blamed the lackluster profit performance partly on weakness from newly acquired JJB Sports and adverse weather in the first quarter.

Sales climbed 10% to $1.4 billion, meeting Wall Street expectations. Same-store sales rose 3.8%, consisting of a 2.9% increase at Dick’s stores, a 4.4% rise at Golf Galaxy, and a 34.6% increase in its e-commerce business.