Department Store

Columbus, Ohio -- Big Lots reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended July 28 slipped to $22.1 million, from $35.7 million in the year-ago period.

Sales in the United States edged up 1.7% to $1.18 billion, from $1.16 billion, and domestic same-store sales decreased 1.9% for the quarter.

In Canada, the company recorded a loss for the quarter of $3.3 million, widened from its loss of $1.2 million last year.

Gurnee, Ill. -- Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group said that Bed Bath & Beyond, along with Buy Buy Baby, will open this fall in a shared space at Gurnee Mills outlet center, in Gurnee, Ill.

The Bed Bath & Beyond/Buy Buy Baby prototype store will be located near Last Call by Neiman Marcus, The Gap Outlet and Build-a-Bear Workshop at the value center.
 

Walmart.com still has a lot of ground to make up on Amazon.com, but July was a step in the right direction as the company added more unique visitors and grew at a faster pace than Amazon.com.

The number of unique visitors to Walmart.com increased 16.8% I to 45.2 million and placed the company 23 on a top 50 Web properties report compiled monthly by the online measurement firm comScore Media Metrix. During July of 2011, Walmart.com ranked 25^{th with 38.7 million unique visitors.}

New York -- H&M will open its largest store in the world, on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, Women’s Wear Daily reported.

The company will open a six-level, 57,000-sq.-ft. store on Fifth Avenue at the corner of 48th Street sometime next year, according to the report.
 

TOPEKA, Kan. — Collective Brands stockholders voted at a special meeting on Tuesday to approve the sale of the company for about $1.32 billion.

Collective, which owns the Payless and Stride Rite shoe store banners, had announced in May that it accepted a purchase offer from a group that includes Wolverine Worldwide Inc., Blum Capital Partners and Golden Gate Capital.

San Francisco -- Williams-Sonoma Inc. said its second-quarter net income rose 10%, fueled by double-digit sales growth at its Pottery Barn and West Elm stores. The results beat analysts’ expectations and the company also raised its profit and sales predictions for the full year.

For the quarter ended July 29, Williams-Sonoma earned $43.4 million, up from $39.3 million in the same period last year.

Los Angeles -- Guess Inc. on Wednesday reported that its second-quarter profit fell to $42.9 million, from $60.7 million a year ago. The company also lowered its full-year earnings outlook.

Total net revenue for the quarter ended July 28 fell 6.2% to $635.4 million, from $677.2 million.

The company’s retail stores in North America generated revenue of $253.0 million in the second quarter, down 3.1% from $261.1 million in the same period a year ago. Same-store sales fell 8.5%.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Express Inc. reported a 25% increase in net income for the second quarter. But the retailer slashed its profit outlook for the year and said that same-store sales barely rose last quarter and that it expects about the same for the rest of the year.

Express earned $15.8 million for the quarter ended July 28, better than analysts expected, compared with $12.6 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue increased 2% to $454.9 million, short of the $467 million analysts had expected. Same-store sales inched up 1%.