Retail

Same day delivery firm Shutl will begin offering its service next month in New York, San Francisco and Chicago.

Thanks to $6 million in funding from partners such as UPS, e.ventures and Notion Capital, plans call for the firm to expand the delivery offering to 17 additional metropolitan areas later this year with the goal of enabling conventional brick and mortar retailers to realize their multichannel potential.

New York -- Five women in Wisconsin have filed suit against Wal-Mart Stores, claiming the retailer denied them and other female employees equal pay and equal opportunities, the Journal Sentinel reported. The suit, which also seeks class-action status, claims Wal-Mart discriminated against female employees in the chain's Region 14, which includes stores in Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois.

PROVO, Utah — Target strengthened its sustainability rep recently with the addition of EcoScraps, a provider of organic, chemical- and manure-free lawn and garden products, to its lineup. The sustainable, 100% organic, potting soil is now available at more than 1,700 Target stores nationwide. This marks the first time that EcoScraps will appear on the shelves of a major retailer at the national level.

CINCINNATI — Macy's reported fourth-quarter sales and earnings growth that exceeded company expectations, prompting it to issue new guidance for 2013. 

FORT WORTH, Texas — Comps were down 7% at RadioShack for the fourth quarter, driven by a decline in the mobility and consumer electronics platforms. Total sales and and operating revenue were $1.3 billion, compared with $1.4 billion last year.  

The company reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $63 million, or 63 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $12 million last year. 

Chicago -- The retail industry is poised for another year of heavy deal flow. Nearly all retail CFOs (94%) expect merger and acquisition will increase or remain steady in 2013, according to a new survey from BDO USA.

The bullish forecasts follow $324.6 billion in global retail and consumer M&A activity in 2012, which was up 33% over 2011 and the busiest year since 2007, according to Dealogic. A majority of CFOs (68%) expect the U.S. markets to see a majority of deal volume, followed by the Asia-Pacific market (20%) and Latin America market (7%).

North Bergen, N.J. -- Vitamin Shoppe Inc. said Tuesday its fourth-quarter net income rose 3% to $9.7 million, up from $9.4 million in the year-ago period.
   

NEW YORK — Sun Products' All Mighty Pacs laundry packs, Aquafresh Extreme Clean Pure Breath Action Paste, M&M's Brand Snack Mix, Reckitt Benckiser's Resolve All-Stains, Sun Products' Surf Liquid Laundry Detergent and GlaxoSmithKline's Tums Freshers were among the winners of Product of the Year USA's recently announced top products for 2013, the group said.

The named products were the result of a vote among 50,000 consumers.