Foot Locker

Walmart’s e-commerce arm is shaking up its private label offerings.   Jet.com will increasingly phase out its assortment of Kirkland Signature branded merchandise — Costco’s private label brand. The move is said to help augment efforts among Walmart’s Sam’s Club chain, which is focused on boosting sales among its own store brand, Member’s Mark, according to Bloomberg.

Foot Locker posted weaker-than-expected earnings and sales for its first quarter after high promotional activity and getting off to a slow start in February.        Net income for the company's first quarter ended April 29, 2017 was $180 million, or $1.36 per share, compared with net income of $191 million, or $1.39 per share in the year-ago period.  

There’s been a reorganization at Whole Foods Market.   On Wednesday, the natural-foods retailer named a new chairwoman and five new independent directors, effective immediately. It also appointed a former Kohl’s executive as CFO.   The changes come as activist investors and restless shareholders have been demanding Whole Foods accelerate the turnaround its business. The board shakeup came on the same day as the retailer released second quarter earnings that met analysts’ expectations. 

Four more and he’ll match his age.   Twenty-four-year old Joel J. Gorjian, a VP at Great Neck, New York-based Namdar Realty Group, has made his 20th retail center purchase in the past 12 months, this time a mall in suburban Chicago.  

The Jet Anywhere rewards program is preparing for its final descent.   As of May 1, Jet.com is pulling the plug on a program that rewards consumers for shopping on its retail portal. As shoppers enter the Jet Anywhere e-commerce portal, they can click through and shop at more than 600 retail partners, including Foot Locker, Land’s End, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor and Bloomingdales, among others.   

Trusted national news sources such as the Wall Street Journal and New York Times continue to augur the fall the mall, but many American towns won’t give them up without a fight.   One such is Racine, Wisconsin, whose City Plan Commission advanced a scheme to revitalize the failing Regency Mall by forming a tax increment district (TID) around the 134-acre site that includes out-lots housing Target, Home Depot, Toys R Us, and the High Ridge Center.  

Despite a softer sales environment, Foot Locker reported strong fourth quarter earnings — surpassing analyst estimates.   For the fourth quarter ended January 28, 2017, the specialty athletic retailer’s profits hit $189 million, or $1.42 per share, compared with net income of $158 million, or $1.14 per share in the same period of 2015. This exceeded analyst estimates of $1.31 per share.  

Foot Locker reported third-quarter profit that surpassed analysts’ expectations.   The retailer’s earnings soared 96.3% in the quarter ended Oct. 29 to $157 million, or $1.17 a share, up from $80 million, or 57 cents, a year ago.   Total sales increased 5.1% to $1.886 billion this year. Same-store sales were up 4.7%.