Retail

Dollarama said that its first-quarter results were adversely affected by challenging weather conditions, but the company reported continued growth in sales and net earnings.

Canada's leading dollar store operator of 899 locations across the country reported sales for the quarter of $501.1 million, an 11.8% increase from $448.1 million in the prior-year periord. The increase in sales was driven by the growth in the number of stores in the past 12 months and strong Easter sales and continued organic sales growth driven by comparable store sales growth of 3.3%.

Scottsdale, Ariz. — P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc. is the latest retailer to investigate a possible data breach.

The retailer emailed has been contacted by banks and law enforcement agencies about online reports that credit card and debit card numbers matching ones used at P.F. Chang’s locations between March and May 2o14 have appeared for sale on underground hacker websites.

Media reports indicate the U.S. Secret Service is also investigating the potential breach, although the Secret Service has not publicly commented.

Lululemon Athletica Inc.'s first-quarter net income plunged 60%, impacted by a one-time tax adjustment. Although its adjusted profit and revenue beat Wall Street's expectations for the quarter, the retailer lowered its full-year earnings forecast.

Lululemon said that CFO John Currie plans to retire by the end of its fiscal year (February 2015).

Risk averse retailers were quick to shun Paula Deen after she displayed racial insensitivities last year, but now she is back with a new approach that appeals directly to fans of her brand.

Paula Deen Ventures plans to create an interactive digital experience called the Paula Deen Network that allows viewers to engage and access Deen and her Southern home cooking on a variety of digital platforms. The network will be a paid subscription model and is scheduled to launch this September.

San Mateo, Calif. – Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is debuting its U.S. e-commerce site, 11Main.com, with a beta rollout on Wednesday, June 11. The home page of the invite-only website says “We’re opening soon — our shop owners are getting unpacked and unsettled,” and has an online invite request option. (Alibaba has filed for an initial public offering in the United States, in May.)

Atlanta — Online shoppers want retailers to make it easier to purchase their goods and services, and also want websites and stores to work better together. For now, according to a new survey of 5,800 consumers from UPS and comScore Inc., they also prefer to evaluate and purchase products from their desktops rather than their mobile devices, and when it comes to shipping and returns, "free" is a driving factor to complete the sale.
 

New York — Target Corp. announced at its annual meeting on Wednesday that the company’s shareholders re-elected its entire 10-member board of directors. Shareholders also approved the company’s executive compensation plan.

In May, proxy firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended the removal of seven board members, accusing them of failing to protect Target from its massive data breach.

Schaumburg, Ill. — Motorola Solutions Inc. has released a personal shopping device designed to enable customers to quickly scan items with faster checkouts. The MC18 Personal Shopper is Motorola’s fifth generation personal shopping device and provides shoppers with real-time discount coupons for items they are purchasing and suggestions for complementary merchandise.