Retail

Issaquah, Wash. -- Costco Corp. reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended May 12 increased a higher-than-expected 19% on increased sales and member fees. The wholesale club operator earned $459 million in the third quarter, up from $386 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 8% to $24.08 billion, just missing Wall Street’s forecast of $24.09 billion. Revenue from membership fees climbed to $531 million from $475 million, and same-store sales rose 5% overall and 6% in the U.S.

Abilene, Kan. -- Alco Stores said Thursday that it has promoted Ricardo Clemente to senior VP, human resources, store operations and loss prevention.

Clemente joined the chain in 2011 as a district manager, most recently serving as VP stores and human resources.

New York -- Elixir Juice Bar has leased two more stores in Manhattan, according to Winick Realty Group, which represented the brand in both of its recent New York leases.

Elixir will occupy 70 Greenwich Avenue, located between Seventh Avenue South and Sixth Avenue in the heart of the West Village. Elixir has also leased a location in the Upper East Side. The 500-sq.-ft. store is located at 1371 Third Avenue, between 78th and 79th Streets.

New York -- Delia’s reported Thursday that its loss more than doubled year-over-year, as the multichannel retailer lost $9.2 million in the quarter ended May 4, compared with a loss of $4.3 million last year.

Revenue slid 15% to $35 million, and same-store sales fell 7.1%. Amid the disappointing results, the company has appointed Tracy Gardner as CEO, effective June 5, moving over from his current position as COO.

Irvine, Calif. -- KTGY Group announced that Hutton Cos. has launched construction on La Verne Village, a 172-unit mixed-use residential and retail community in La Verne, Calif., located in the San Gabriel Valley, east of Los Angeles.

Situated on the site of a former automobile dealership on 7.69 acres, the La Verne Village luxury apartment homes are integrated within the village-center court, complete with more than 15,000 sq. ft. of integrated retail shopping and dining.

New York -- Consumer sentiment for the week ended May 27 maintained a near five-year high level, according to the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index on Thursday.

Crediting an improving economy and healing personal finances, Americans are expressing continued optimism, as the Index was at minus 29.7 in the period compared with minus 29.4 a week earlier. The margin of error for the figure is 3 percentage points.

According to Bloomberg, views on the current state of the economy matched a mid-April reading as the strongest since January 2008.