Home Improvement

Toano, Va. – Lumber Liquidators increased its net income in the third quarter of fiscal 2013 58.4% to $20.4 million, from $12.9 million in the year-ago period.

Net sales grew 24.5% to $254.3 million, from $204.3 million in the same period a year earlier. Same-store sales grew 17.4%, driven by a 9.8% increase in the number of customers invoiced and a 6.9% increase in the average sale.  

Sears Home Appliance Showrooms has completely revamped its interior in an effort to make the shopping experience convenient for consumers.

The updated sales floor presentations include a new merchandising layout allowing showrooms to expand key lines such as built-in cooking, cooktops and laundry and improve customer shopping experiences with new displays of dishwashers and floor care.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Home Appliance Showrooms is rolling out a new revamped interior designed to make shopping for appliances an easier experience for consumers.

The updated sales floor presentations include a new merchandising layout allowing showrooms to expand key lines such as built-in cooking, cooktops, and laundry, and improve customer shopping experiences with new displays of dishwashers and floor care.

Following third quarter results, Whirlpool is increasing its full-year diluted earnings per share guidance to $10.45 to $10.65 from the previous range of $10.05 to $10.55, and its full-year adjusted earnings per share to $9.90 to $10.10 from the previous range of $9.50 to $10.

The company reported net earnings of $196 million for the quarter, or $2.42 per diluted share, compared to net earnings of $74 million, or $0.94 per diluted share, reported during the same period last year.

Mooresville, N.C. - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded Lowe's Companies, Inc. the highest honors for industry leadership in its SmartWay and WaterSense programs. On Oct. 22, Lowe's received the 2013 SmartWay Excellence Award for its environmental performance in the freight transportation industry. This month, the EPA also recognized Lowe's with a 2013 WaterSense Sustained Excellence award for its long-standing efforts to educate consumers about water-efficient products and practices.

Sequential Brands Group has entered into five new license agreements to expand the Caribbean Joe brand and has extended the terms of its agreements with three current partners. With five new partnerships, this brings the total list of Caribbean Joe licensees to 25.
 

Fort Worth, Texas -- Pier 1 Imports announced that its board of directors has authorized a new $200 million share repurchase program.

The new share repurchase program is effective immediately and authorizes the repurchase of up to $200 million of the company’s common stock in open market or private transactions. As of October 17, 2013, Pier I had approximately 103.8 million shares of common stock outstanding.
 

Driving sales with an established brand at multiple retail accounts is hard enough for the biggest consumer packaged goods companies. Creating a new brand in a nonexistent category is even more daunting as a pair of entrepreneurial family members discovered a decade ago when they launched the Granite Gold line of stone-care products. This is their story.

Two stone guys with no experience in consumer package goods or retail set out to conquer the world by trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.