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San Diego -- Warehouse club operator PriceSmart reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended May 31 rose to $16.3 million, compared with $12 million in the year-ago period.

Sales surged 23.6% to $421.6 million, from $341.2 million.

The company had previously announced it acquired 131,524 sq. ft. of land in Cali, Colombia, upon which it will build its second warehouse club in Colombia.
 

New York City -- With same-store sales increases of 6.7% and 7.5% respectively, Macy’s and Kohl’s outperformed rival J.C. Penney in June, as J.C. Penney came up short of Wall Street estimates with a slight 2% gain.

Macy’s saw total sales rise 7.5% in June to $2.4 billion.

“Sales growth in June exceeded our expectations,” said Terry J. Lundgren, chairman, president and CEO. “Once again, the growth came from across the company -- Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores and online sites.”

Stronger-than-expected sales from a number of retailers in June is adding credence to a recent forecast that this year’s back-to-dchool season could be the strongest in the past five years, which is good news for Walmart as it looks for a strong ending to its second quarter.

Shoppers continue to face a lot of economic headwinds this back-to-school season, but one forecaster has seasonal sales growing by 6.2% to $467 billion, the most since 2006.

Oak Brook, Ill. -- Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust announced Wednesday the acquisition of Sawyer Heights Village in a joint venture with RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust.

Sawyer Heights Village, a 107,626-sq.-ft. power center located just outside the central business district in Houston, was purchased for approximately $35 million. 

Former Walmart China executives Rob Cissell and Shawn Gray have joined the retail subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, according to the Economic Times of India. Cissell will serve Reliance CEO and Gray will serve as COO, according to the newspaper.

Westchester, Ill. -- Tri-Land Properties announced Thursday that Marshalls and Qdoba Mexican Grill have joined the company’s projects in Indiana and Minnesota.

At Southern Plaza, a 335,000-sq.-ft. Indianapolis shopping center anchored by Kroger and Office Depot, Marshalls has opened a 24,084-sq.-ft. store.

At Century Plaza, a 300,592-sq.-ft. shopping center located in Merrillville, Ind. anchored by Staples and Old Time Pottery, Qdoba Mexican Grill has opened a 2,700-sq. ft. Mexican fast-casual restaurant.

NEW YORK – Department-store retailers turned out solid sales results in June, despite concerns about consumers cutting back on spending.

Macy’s Inc. reported that its total sales for the fiscal month of June increased 7.5% to $2.392 billion from $2.226 billion last year. The retailer reported a same-store sales increase of 6.7% for the month. 

New York City -- The International Council of Shopping Centers is forecasting an increase of 3% to $39 billion in total sales over the three-month back-to-school shopping season.

According to ICSC on Thursday, sales for the back-to-school season -- typically the second-largest driver of the year -- are predicted to be healthy.