Mass Merchant

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — TJX announced that net sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2012 increased 8% to $5.5 billion and consolidated comparable-store sales increased 4%. Net income for the second quarter was $348 million and diluted earnings per share were 90 cents, compared with 74 cents per share last year. 

Framingham, Mass. -- TJX Cos. reported Tuesday that net income for the second quarter rose 14% to $348 million, compared with $305 million in the year-ago period.

The parent of TJ Maxx and other discount concepts saw revenue climb 8% in the quarter, to $5.47 billion, topping analysts' estimated $5.44 billion.
 

NEW YORK — Saks Inc. reported a second-quarter net loss of $8.4 million, or 5 cents per diluted share. For last year’s second quarter, the company posted a net loss of $32.2 million, or 21 cents per share. 

Revenue rose 13% to $670.2 million from $593.1 million, beating Wall Street's $657.4 million. Same-store sales surged 15.5%, surpassing Saks' expectations.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores reported Tuesday that profit for the quarter ended July 31 rose to $3.8 billion, up from $3.6 billion in the year-ago period. Overall revenue, up 5.4% to $109.37 billion, topped Wall Street’s expectations.

Yet, the world’s largest retailer is feeling the pinch from a tight economy that is slow to loosen. Wal-Mart U.S., the company's biggest unit, posted a 0.9% drop in same-store sales, the ninth consecutive quarterly drop and beneath analysts' estimates for a 0.6% fall.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Kroger announced that two of its Smith's stores in Albuquerque, N.M., have installed photovoltaic energy panels.

The solar energy system on the roof of each Smith's store consists of 442 panels, each containing cells that convert sunlight into direct current electricity, Kroger said. Smith's was selected to be among the first Kroger division stores to install photovoltaic panels.

CHICAGO — The first CityTarget in downtown Chicago won’t open until next summer and already the store is assured of healthy lunch and dinner time traffic thanks to the addition of a Pret A Manger restaurant.

 For those who don’t speak French, Pret A Manger means “ready to eat,” and serves as a reference to the restaurant’s offering of such fresh and preservative free food as sandwiches, soups, salads and coffee. Regulars refer to the restaurant simply as Pret.

Bentonville, Ark. -- According to reports by Reuters and Bloomberg on Friday, Wal-Mart Stores is transferring management of its e-commerce business to store-level leadership in developed countries and said that two online executives are leaving the company.

According to the reports, e-commerce leaders in markets such as the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, will now report directly to the heads of stores in those countries instead of global e-commerce executive Eduardo Castro-Wright.

Target is set to report second quarter earnings Wednesday morning, and let’s just say it would be a surprise if there were any surprises. The company is pretty thorough when it comes to managing investor expectations and provides commentary regarding whether analysts’ estimates are too high or too low.

That was the case at the end of the first quarter when the company indicated the then consensus estimate of $1 a share for the second quarter was too high, or as CFO Doug Scovanner indicated “above the midpoint of a reasonable range of likely outcomes.”