Corporate Governance

Between now and March 2013, when the first Target stores open in Canada, there is a whole lot of heavy lifting to be done at the retailer’s new headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario.

Minneapolis -- Target announced it will open a CityTarget store in the Westwood Market Place, Westwood, Calif., in July 2012. The 98,000- sq.-ft. store will occupy a space that formerly housed Home Depot Expo.

The Westwood location is the second CityTarget store confirmed in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Target previously announced that it would open a small-format, urban store at Figueroa and 7th in downtown Los Angeles in October 2012.

Philadelphia -- Urban Outfitters Inc.’s third-quarter profit fell 31% amid a decline in same-store sales and as merchandise markdowns continued to weigh on margins.

For the quarter ended Oct. 31, Urban Outfitters posted earnings of $50.7 million, down from $73.1 million in the year-ago period.

Gross margin narrowed to 35.4% from 41.1%, partly due to increased merchandise markdowns at Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters. Total inventories grew by $78 million.

Matthews, N.C. -- Family Dollar has entered the state of California, opening four stores, in Ontario, Rialto, Riverside and Fontana.

The discounter plans to open 450-500 new stores in fiscal 2012.

New York City -- Wal-Mart Stores has acquired Australian tech start-up Grabble for an undisclosed amount. Founded in January 2010, Grabble provides retailers a point-of-service app for purchases.

The discount giant will make the company part of its recently established Walmart Labs.

 

New York City -- Tiffany & Co. on Monday launched its first annual web-based Corporate Responsibility Report.

The website (tiffany.com/sustainability) details the jeweler’s 2010 sustainability performance, and provides insight into its standards and operations regarding the sourcing of precious materials, as well as includes information on eco-friendly packaging and catalogs.
 

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot said Monday that it has promoted current executive VP, corporate strategy and new business development Steve Schmidt to the position of president international.

Schmidt, who will report to CEO Neil Austrian, will oversee Office Depot’s multichannel International business.

Mooresville, N.C. -- Lowe's Cos. reported Monday that net income for the quarter ended Oct. 28 dropped 44% as store-closing charges undercut a slight uptick in quarterly sales.

The home-improvement retailer reported net earnings of $225 million, compared with $404 million in the year-ago period. Charges related to store closures amounted to a pre-tax earnings reduction of $336 million.

Sales increased 2.3% to $11.9 billion, up from $11.6 billion a year earlier. Same-store sales edged up 0.7%, reversing declines in two prior quarters.

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney Co. reported Monday a loss of $143 million for the quarter ended Oct. 29, compared with a profit of $44 million in the year-ago period. Sagging comps and shrinking margins led to the performance decline.

For the quarter, sales dropped 4.8% to $3.99 billion, reflecting the company’s exit from its catalog and catalog outlet businesses, which it sold off during the quarter. 

As previously reported, same-store sales dipped 1.6%.

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation announced that it has urged the Senate to approve legislation that would help create jobs by making it quicker for citizens of Brazil, China and India to obtain visas needed to travel to the United States on business or to shop in U.S. stores.