Supermarket/Grocery

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Net sales for Spartan Stores slightly declined nearly 0.6% to $782.3 million during the third quarter.

During the quarter, which ended Jan. 1, Spartan also experienced a rise in operating earnings, which increased from $13.7 million in third quarter 2009 to $16.6 million. Third-quarter earnings from continuing operations improved 42% percent to $7.5 million, or 33 cents per diluted share, from $5.3 million, or 23 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.

New York City -- Costco Wholesale Corp. reported a January same-store sales increase of 9%, topping Wall Street expectations and leading the performances of the discount retail category.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a smaller same-store sales increase of 6.1%.

Target Corp. didn’t show the same strength, missing expectations because of strong winter storms during the month. Same-store sales edged up 1.7% for the month, missing the 1.9% increase predicted by Wall Street.

Retail sales during January offered a mix bag of results and made it rather tricky to determine how much results were influenced by harsh winter weather, gift card redemption rates, a still shaky economic recovery and individual company strategies.

Miami -- Walmart Latin America CEO Eduardo Solorzano said Thursday in a speech that Walmart is using the company's expertise in sustainability as a means for profitable growth. 

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.”

New York City -- Safeway will combat an aggressive crop of new rivals with an expansion that includes nine stores in the West, of which six will be in the San Francisco Bay area, according to the Oakland Tribune.

The chain plans to open stores in Pleasanton, Castro Valley, El Cerrito, Campbell, Los Gatos and Burlingame. It also is working to obtain city approvals for stores in Pleasant Hill, Emeryville and Berkeley, the report said, and is eyeing a new store in the Oakland hills.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Walmart announced that the Walmart Foundation committing more than $750,000 in cash and in-kind donations to support emergency relief efforts in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where an estimated 827 people have been killed and thousands have been left homeless following torrential rains and mudslides. A $400,000 donation from the Walmart Foundation will help purchase critical supplies like water, food, medical supplies and long-term relief efforts.