Department Store

Austin, Texas -- Isis, the mobile commerce joint venture created by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless,  announced that Aeropostale, Champs Sports, Dillard’s, Foot Locker, Jamba Juice and Macy’s are among the first national merchants to join with Isis in advancing mobile commerce. The company also announced the first of its local merchant partners across Austin, Texas and Salt Lake City.

When JCPenney hired former Target chief marketer, Michael Francis, to serve as president, the company no doubt thought he would bring with him a bit of Target's magic. Now, about six months since he assumed his role at JCPenney, the company has undergone a number of personnel changes and the implementation of its new "fair and square" price strategy, and investors are waiting for it to pay off.

Fort Meyers, Fla. -- Chico's FAS Inc. said Wednesday that its fiscal first-quarter net income rose a better-than-expected 17% to 53.6 million in the three months through April 28, compared with $45.9 million a year ago. The chain also bumped up its revenue outlook for the year.

Revenue rose 21% to $650.8 million, beating expectations, from $537.2 million a year ago. The company September acquisition of women's clothing chain Boston Proper added $33.7 million in sales during the quarter.

Washington, D.C. -- A Tuesday report by the Commerce Department showed that U.S. retail sales during the month of April edged up 0.1%, following a 0.7% gain in March and marking the smallest rise of the year so far. The gain was in line with projections.

Excluding auto sales, retail sales climbed 0.1% in April.

Framingham, Mass. -- The TJX Cos. reported Tuesday that net income rose to $419 million for the quarter ended April 28. On an earnings per share basis, adjusted profit results showed a 41% increase over the prior year period.

Sales increased 11% to $5.8 billion and same-store sales climbed 8%.

Carol Meyrowitz, CEO of TJX Cos., said: “We saw significant increases in customer traffic across all divisions in the first quarter over last year, which we believe points to the strength of our values and our brand content.”

PLANO, Texas —  From personnel changes to its new "fair and square" price strategy, JCPenney has put a lot into changing the company's image, and investors are waiting for it to pay off. For the first quarter, the company reported an adjusted net loss of $55 million or 25 cents per share, excluding markdowns taken as a result of the company's continuing efforts to reduce inventory levels to align with its new strategy, restructuring and management transition charges and non-cash qualified pension expense.

London -- The British department store Selfridges received the “Best Department Store in the World” award at the Global Department Store Summit in Paris.

Selfridges took the top slot amongst finalists from around the globe, including Macy's and Woolworths (South Africa). The U.K. retailer also won the award, which is given out every two years, in 2010.

NEW YORK — Kohl’s, Nordstrom and Target  ranked first in their categories in a new survey by Harris Interactive. The 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend (EQ) study surveyed Americans about brands across several retail segments, revealing which brands prompted them to open their hearts—and consequently—their pocketbooks.