Retail

Los Angeles – Shoppers are setting a budget for Mother’s Day spending this year, according to a new survey from PriceGrabber. Results of the 2013 Mother’s Day Survey show that 52% of consumers plan to spend less than $100 on Mother’s Day gifts, with flowers the most popular gift selection.

The survey of 6,824 US online shopping consumers also shows that 23% of shoppers will spend $100-$249, while 12% will spend more than $250 and 13% do not have a budget in mind.
 

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid reported a 4% drop in same store sales for the four weeks ending April 27, 2013 compared to the same period a year earlier. The drugstore chain blamed part of the drop on the negative impact of an early Easter this year on front-end sales.

Same store sales also declined 3% for the eight-week period ending April 27, 2013 compared to the same eight weeks in 2012.

New York -- The Jones Group Inc. returned to a profit in the first quarter, but sales were hampered by unseasonably cool weather. The company said net income for the three months ended April 6, after paying preferred dividends, totaled $500,000. That compares with a loss of $1.2 million in the year-ago period.

Revenues for the first quarter of 2013 were almost $1.1 billion, up from $936 million for the same period last year. Jones Group CEO Wesley R. Card said that weather and other factors impacted the business both domestically and internationally.

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- To support its strong growth and fill current vacancies, Dollar General is planning to hire 10,000 employees in May for its store and distribution center locations. Career fairs to recruit candidates will be held throughout the month in the 40 states the company serves.
      

Hudson, Ohio — Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores has hired former Disney and J.C. Penney’s executive Kris Arabia as VP of product development. Arabia will report to senior VP and chief marketing and merchandising officer Riddianne Kline.
 

Los Angeles – Guess Inc. is appointing Sharleen Ernster Lazear as chief design officer. Lazear will oversee all product categories for the Guess and Marciano brands and report to CEO Paul Marciano.

She previously served in senior merchandising and design roles for Victoria’s Secret for 13 years, most recently as executive VP of design.

Woonsocket, R.I. -- CVS Caremark Corp.’s first-quarter earnings rose a better-than-expected 23% as new generic drugs and demand for flu medications helped the company’s profitability. The chain narrowed its 2013 guidance to reflect higher-than-expected performance.

For the first quarter, CVS earned $956 million, up from $776 million in last year's quarter.   

Companywide revenue slipped 0.1% to $30.76 billion, but exceeded the $30.36 billion that Wall Street expected.

New York -- Walmart is emphasizing e-commerce for growth, said Neil Ashe, the chain’s president and CEO of global e-commerce, said during an investor presentation Wednesday morning.