Discount Store

Savannah, Ga. -- Citi Trends reported Friday a fourth quarter loss of $704,000, narrowed from a $5.3 million loss in the same period last year.

Revenue slipped 2% to $175.7 million, meeting Wall Street forecasts. Same-store sales plummeted 11.8%.

PHILADELPHIA — The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack has announced that Robert Rosenblatt and Andrea Weiss have joined its board of directors. With these appointments, Pep Boys has increased the current size of its board from seven to nine directors.

Houston -- The Men's Wearhouse Inc. posted a larger-than-expected loss for its fiscal fourth quarter. The retailer also announced that it was exploring the possible sale of its weaker performing K&G unit.

The company lost $3.4 million for the quarter that ended Feb. 2, compared to a loss of $3.8 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 8.2% to $608.4 million. Revenue from Men's Wearhouse stores, which made up 61% of the quarter’s sales, rose 9.1%.

Irving, Texas -- Michaels Stores said its fourth-quarter profit rose 15%, boosted by higher sales.
   
For the three months ended Feb. 2, the company said net income rose to $112 million, up from $97 million in the year ago period.

Revenue rose 9% to $1.52 billion, helped by an extra week in the quarter. Same-store sales increased 1.7%, with a 2.3% increase in the average ticket.

For the year, net sales increased 15% to $4.41 billion. Net income totaled $214 million, up from $176 million in fiscal 2011.

Atlanta -- Aaron's, a lease-to-own, announced the recent opening of a combined 32 new company-operated and franchised stores in 17 different states and two Canadian provinces.

The announcement follows a strong growth year for the company in 2012, which included the opening of its 2,000th store in the Bronx in September.

Cleveland -- CenterMark Development has announced plans to build a 10,010-sq.-ft. Dollar Tree store in Cleveland, the first ground-up construction of a free-standing Dollar Tree store in the City of Cleveland.

The project breaks ground in March with completion scheduled for August 2013. Construction financing was provided by PNC Bank. HCI is serving as general contractor.  

WASHINGTON — The Department of Commerce reported that retail sales for the month of February rose by 1.1% seasonally adjusted month to month.

The newly released figures include nongeneral merchandise categories, such as automobiles, gas stations and restaurants; excluding those, sales rose 0.7%, while rising 0.5% unadjusted year over year. The National Retail Federation noted that sales beat estimates as consumers adapted and adjusted spending in response to higher gas prices and the payroll tax increase.

Former Coach CFO Michael Devine has joined the board of rapidly growing discount retailer Five Below.

Devine served as CFO at Coach from 2001 to 2011. He will replace Five Below board member Howard Ross who resigned and serve as chair of the retailer’s audit committee.

Devine currently serves on the boards of Express, Deckers, Talbot's, and Sur La Table, and previously served on the board of NutriSystems.