Apparel

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl’s Corp. reported a better-than-expected second-quarter profit amid efforts to control costs. Sales, however, disappointed.

The retailer posted a second-quarter profit of $240 million, down from $299 million in the year-ago period.

Net sales were $4.2 billion, down 1.0% from last year. Same-store sales decreased 2.7% for the quarter.

Seattle -- Nordstrom on Thursday reported an 11% decline in its second quarter profit, with its performance affected by the timing of its biggest sale of the year. The retailer also raised its profit and sales outlook for the year, and said it would accelerate the expansion of its Nordstrom Rack outlet-store concept.

SEATTLE — Zoomingo, the shopping discovery app that helps consumers find the best deals in their local stores and online, has launched a new "back to school" section that lets parents and young adults find the best deals for their back to school essentials, whether they are on the go from their smartphone or from the convenience of their home computer. The new back to school section is available both in English as well as in Spanish through a newly released Spanish language version of Zoomingo's Android application.

Reston, Va. -- U.S. online retail spending reached $43.2 billion for the second quarter, up 15% over a year ago, according to comScore.

It was the eleventh consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and seventh consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. The top-performing online product categories were: digital content & subscriptions, consumer electronics, flowers, greetings and gifts, computer hardware, apparel and Accessories. Each category grew at least 16% over a year ago.

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. — TAGSYS RFID, a provider of item-level inventory management systems that streamline the supply chain, has expanded its U.S.-based organization in response to accelerating demand for smart inventory and loss management systems within the retail and luxury sectors.

Tony Dublino has been named director of U.S. Sales for retail and apparel and Chad Tripp is the new director of field applications engineering for TAGSYS in the United States.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Kmart is responding to changing trends affecting the "back-to-school" experience with a number initiatives designed to meet the needs of its consumers.

According to Kmart, more public schools are requiring uniforms and others are now adopting a year-round school calendar. In response, Kmart has adjusted its approach to back-to-school by increasing the number of stores that sell uniforms and aligning its back-to-school sales periods by region to match that of the local school districts.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Kmart is responding to changing trends affecting the "back-to-school" experience with a number initiatives designed to meet the needs of its consumers.

According to Kmart, more public schools are requiring uniforms and others are now adopting a year-round school calendar. In response, Kmart has adjusted its approach to back-to-school by increasing the number of stores that sell uniforms and aligning its back-to-school sales periods by region to match that of the local school districts.

CINCINNATI — After delivering a 22% increase over the prior year in diluted per share for it second quarter (from 55 cents to 67 cents), Macy's Inc. has raised its full-year earnings guidance for 2012.

The company now expects earnings per diluted share to range from $3.30 to $3.35, compared with previous guidance for earnings per diluted share of $3.25 to $3.30. Guidance for same-store sales in fiscal 2012 remains unchanged at an increase of approximately 3.7%.