Mass Merchant

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. reported a 26% drop in its first-quarter profit as unseasonably cool weather, the payroll tax increase and other economic pressures took a toll on sales.

Target earned $498 million the three months ended May 4, down from $697 million in the year-ago period. Sales rose 1% to $16.71 billion.

Same-store sales fell 0.6%. The number of transactions fell 1.9%.

“One of the strange ironies of the 2013 convention is that — despite more bookings, a sold-out convention and more activity than we’ve seen in years — the convention doesn’t feel as busy as it has in years past. I suspect this is largely because three of the biggest names in the industry, Macerich, Simon, and Westfield, don’t have booths at the convention center this year. Make no mistake, they are still here in Vegas — they have just moved over to Caesar’s Palace.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart has appointed Dan Bartlett, former senior counselor to George W. Bush, as its EVP of corporate affairs. Bartlett was most recently president and CEO of the U.S. arm of Hill+Knowlton Strategies, a global business advisory firm serving corporations, nonprofits and associations in 52 countries.

MINNEAPOLIS — Store closures and a shift in this year’s Super Bowl affected Best Buy’s results for the 13-week period ended May 4. 

Minneapolis – Target Corp. is testing a video streaming service with internal employees. Called Target Ticket beta, the service features 15,000 movies and TV shows for digital download.

The service, which is password-protected, presumably is designed to compete with Netflix and Hulu, among other digital video platforms.

Minneapolis – Best Buy reported a net loss of almost 10% for first quarter fiscal 2014, seeing its revenue drop from roughly $10.34 billion the prior year to $9.38 billion. Increased price competition and the closure of 49 large-format stores contributed to the electronics retailer’s decline in revenue. A shift in the Super Bowl, which typically drives TV sales, to the prior quarter and reduced non-core sales also impacted revenue.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — The TJX Companies reported increased net sales during first quarter fiscal 2014. Revenue rose almost 7% from the same quarter a year earlier to about $6.2 billion, while same store sales grew 2% on top of an 8% increase from last year. Net earnings totaled $453 million.

CEO Carol Meyrowitz said that a flexible business model allowed TJX to have a profitable quarter despite adverse weather conditions. “Flowing the right merchandise at the right time continued to be key to strong merchandise margins,” she said.

San Francisco – Pinterest, the social sharing network that many retailers use to promote products, is allowing users to share more information with their pins. Pins may now include data such as pricing, availability and where to buy products, recipe information and detailed information about movies.

So far, retailers including Home Depot, Anthropologie, eBay, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Wal-Mart are partnering with Pinterest to make more product information available on pins originating from their e-commerce sites.