Mass Merchant

Amazon on Thursday posted its eight straight quarter of net profitability, fueled by growth in e-commerce sales and its lucrative cloud service platform, Amazon Web Services.   Amazon easily topped earning expectations for its first quarter, ended March 31, reporting $1.48 per share, above the $1.12 Wall Street expected. Net income rose to $724 million from $513 million in the year-ago period.  

E-commerce driven Bonobos continues to expand its physical presence.   The upscale menswear retailer added three new stores (which it calls “guideshops”), with locations at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles; the Summit in Lexington, Ky.; and Chicago’s Southport neighborhood, reported wwd.com. Another outpost is due to in Denver next week.  

Target Corp. is extending its progress to renewable energy and making progress on its goal to have 500 buildings with rooftop solar panels by 2020.   

Office Depot continues to make good on its promise to focus on its North American business.     The retailer said it has closed on the sale of its business in South Korea to Excelsior Capital Asia, a Hong Kong- and Korea-based direct investment firm. Excelsior invests throughout Asia on behalf of major Korean institutions, pension funds and private family offices.  

Walmart is making its cheaper and faster for its customers to send money.   The retailer is adding new “rollback” fees to its Walmart2Walmart money transfer program. The new fees, beginning Wednesday, April 24, save customers between 20% and 90% on cash transfers versus the leading competitor, according to Walmart.  For example, shoppers sending $250 will pay $8 through the new program, compared to fees that could range between $12.50 and $24 on Western Union, the retailer reported.  

In an action that reflects its strong performance, Costco Wholesale Corp. is about to return some $3.1 billion to investors.    The retailer announced a special cash dividend on Costco common stock of $7.00 per share, payable May 26, 2017, to shareholders. The dividend is in addition to a 5 cent increase of the company’s quarterly cash dividend to 50 cents a share.  

Williams Company Southeast has announced plans to break ground on what it claims will be the biggest to be built in Central Florida for years.   Vineland Point, a 447,500-sq.-ft. project developed by O’Connor Capital Partners on I-4 and Daryl Carter Parkway in Orlando exceeds the size of The Crosslands, another O’Connor project constructed by Williams that opened in Kissimmee in 2015.  

Fresh Market will open its second location in South Carolina’s capital region in the growing upscale suburb of Lexington.