Target, Inc.

OBERLIN, Ohio — Walmart and Target are the top go-to retail stores for college students, according to a new study.

NEW YORK — Each year, the graduating class of the Master of Professional Studies degree program in cosmetics and fragrance marketing and management at FIT researches and forecasts trends or growth concepts within a specific area of the beauty industry, which they then present to an audience of industry executives.

Target sponsored this year's presentation titled "Beauty For All: Innovations in Mass Retail." On hand to deliver keynote remarks during the event was Will Setliff, VP marketing for Target.

New York City -- Target Corp. plans to spend more than it had forecast this year on its entry into the Canadian market as it nails down more of the best retail locations sooner than expected.

The retailer said it will be able to “clarify” within weeks the number and locations of the first 100 to 150 stores it will open in Canada.

“We expect to close on higher value lease transactions sooner than expected,” Target CFO Doug Scovanner told analysts on a conference call Wednesday.

Minneapolis -- Despite weakened sales in the first quarter ended April 30, Target Corp. saw net income rise 2.7% on the strength of its credit-card business.

The retailer reported on Wednesday net income of $689 million in the first quarter, up from $671 million in the year-ago period.

Total revenue rose 2.2% to $15.94 billion. Same-store sales rose 2%.

Analysts expected revenue of $16.02 billion.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Bath and Body Works announced that it has named Nick Coe, formerly president of Lands' End, as its new CEO. The current CEO of Bath and Body Works, Diane Neal, will remain in her role as CEO through summer and then transition into an advisory role with the company from San Francisco. 

MINNEAPOLIS — First-quarter sales at Target increased 2.8% to $15.6 billion, and same-store sales increased 2% the company reported. The modest sales growth translated into earnings per share that advance 9.8% to 99 cents, four cent better than analysts’ consensus estimate of 95 cents, and net income that increased 2.7% to $689 million. Share repurchase activity contributed to the earnings per share growth as Target spent $819 million during the first quarter to buy back 15.4 million shares at an average price of $53.32.

Target ranked 49th on a list of the nation’s 100 largest online retailers based on an annual assessment conducted by the research firm ForeSee Results. The firm said that customer satisfaction with e-tailers is at an all time high with an overall median score of 78 on a scale of 100. Target scored a 78 compared with top-ranked Amazon.com at 86 and bottom ranked RueLaLa.com at 70. The company could make a major move up the ranking by this time next year as a major relaunch of Target.com is planned for this fall just as millions of shopper head online for holiday shopping.

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but it seems like you can’t pick up a paper or click a mouse lately without reading about some big box retailer rolling out its smaller store format. Target has its new 60,000-square-foot CityTarget concept, while Walmart has Walmart Neighborhood Market and Walmart Express stores. It seems like everyone is downsizing.