Retail

Indianapolis -- The Finish Line said its fourth-quarter profit dropped 18% as gross margins fell and overall sales declined more than analysts expected. The chain’s adjusted earnings and same-store sales growth, however, were in-line with its expectations.

For the fourth quarter ended March 2, Finish Line reported net income of $34.3 million, down from $41.9 million a year earlier.

New York -- Kohl’s, Target, and Walgreens were named “Brand of the Year” in their respective categories in the 2013 Harris Poll EquiTrend survey.

The annual study, conducted by Harris Interactive, reveals the brands that Americans rank highest in brand equity. Surveying more than 38,000 American consumers, it measures the level of quality, familiarity, and purchase consideration for each brand, and then awards "Brand of the Year" status to the top-ranked brand from each category.

Imagine a store with a back staff of robots, where items appear, almost magically, in the fitting room. A store where customers pay for their purchases in their dressing rooms, without interacting with a single salesperson. You can stop imagining … check out Hointer, an apparel (mostly men’s jeans) shop in Seattle.

Philadelphia -- Destination Maternity Corp. on Thursday opened the first Destination Maternity superstore location in Canada. The 5,000-sq.-ft. store is in Langley, a suburb of Vancouver, B.C.

Grapevine, Texas -- GameStop Corp reported a nearly 50% increase rise in fourth-quarter profit fueled by gains in its mobile and digital businesses. Profit rose to $261.1 million from $174.7 million.

Revenue for the quarter ended Feb. 2, 2013, totaled $3.56 billion compared to $3.58 billion last year. Same-store sales were down 4.6%.

Memphis -- Fred's Inc. said Thursday that its fourth-quarter net income decreased 33% amid higher operating costs and restrained consumer spending. The discounter’s forecast for this year also fell below analyst expectations.

Net income for the three months ended Feb. 2 fell to $6.6 million, compared to $9.8 million the year before.

Revenue increased 7%, to $533.4 million, also below analysts’ expectations. Same-store sales were up 4.8%.    

Birmingham, Ala. -- Books-A-Million reported Wednesday a profit of $8.1 million for the fourth quarter, up slightly from $7.6 million a year earlier.

Sales dipped 0.8% to $165.6 million, and same-store sales dropped 6.1%.

For the full year, the retailer swung from a loss of $4 million to a profit of $2.5 million. Revenue rose 7.5% to $503.8 million.

San Jose, Calif. -- SLI Systems said Wednesday that Cache has implemented its full-service Learning Search solution for Cache.com, resulting in an 88% increase in the conversion rate among site search users.

The company, said SLI, has also seen a 42% increase in site search usage by its online visitors, driving more sales and revenues.