Mass Merchant

Washington, D.C. -- Kohl’s Corp. ranked second on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership’s latest ranking of the Top 50 partners using the most renewable electricity.

Kohl’s joined the top-ranking Intel as the only two partners using more than 1 billion kWh of green power. The retailer increased its green power purchase to more than 1.4 billion kWh of green power annually.

CITY OF COMMERCE, Calif. -- Ninety-nine Cents Only Stores reported that retail sales for the third quarter ended Dec. 25 increased by 1.5% to $354.1 million and same-store sales decreased 0.7%.

Consolidated net income increased by $2.1 million to $26.6 million, or 38 cents per diluted share, versus $24.5 million in the prior year, or 35 cents per diluted share

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Thursday posted January sales of $5.9 billion, representing an increase of 11.3% from last year. Early morning trading of Walgreen stock was up 51 cents to $42.48.

Only 2.8 percentage points of that increase can be attributed to the acquisition of Duane Reade, the Deerfield, Ill.-based retailer stated. Total front-end sales increased 11.5% in January, and pharmacy sales increased 10.8%, accounting for 66.1% of total sales for the month.

WESTBOROUGH, Mass. — After months of speculation, BJ's Wholesale Club early Thursday morning confirmed the company has decided to explore and evaluate strategic alternatives. Coupled with that announcement was a positive sales story for the year.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target said that although its comparable-store sales were below expectations in the South and Northeast, the company believes overall sales will be driven by two of its recent initiatives.

Target chairman, president and CEO, Gregg Steinhafel, said that while the company "expects the economy to remain challenging, Target's PFresh remodel program and REDcard Rewards 5% savings program continue to operate in line with expectations."

NEW YORK --Dillard’s was the clear winner in the department store category in January, posting a same-store sales increase of 6%, which edged results from both Macy’s and Saks.

JCPenney was the big disappointment, as same-store sales dropped an unexpected 1.2%. A survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters produced a consensus estimate of same-store sales up 1.8%.

The retailer said January sales were impacted by lower levels of clearance inventory as well as by adverse weather conditions.

NEW YORK -- Dillard’s was the clear winner in the department store category in January, posting a same-store sales increase of 6%, which edged results from both Macy’s and Saks.

JCPenney was the big disappointment, as same-store sales dropped an unexpected 1.2%. A survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters produced a consensus estimate of same-store sales up 1.8%.

The retailer said January sales were impacted by lower levels of clearance inventory as well as by adverse weather conditions.

NAPERVILLE, Ill.  — OfficeMax announced the launch of DiVOGA desk products and accessories featuring the limited edition Catherine collection. According to the company, the line features a contemporary take on the traditional brocade patterns dating back to eighteenth century Europe. 

DiVOGA Catherine is available for purchase at OfficeMax stores nationwide and other select retail partners of OfficeMax starting February 2011.

Walmart broke new ground in its media relations efforts this week when EVP Leslie Dach appeared on Comedy Central’s "The Colbert Report." This appearance on Comedy Central was a potentially high risk move as knows anyone who has ever watched host Stephen Colbert interview guest or laughed as correspondents on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart are able to make interview subjects look foolish without them realizing it. Dach is too sophisticated and articulate to allow that to happen and the purpose of his visit was to elaborate on the company’s healthy food initiative.

Walmart SVP brand marketing Tony Rogers was recently added to the program at the Symphony IRI Group’s annual summit to be held this year in Miami on March 28 to 30. Rogers will join Univision Communications EVP corporate research, Elizabeth Ellers, for a presentation titled, “Making Hispanics Your Competitive Advantage at Retail.”