Retail

A highly fragmented market and inconsistent customer demand — thanks, in large part, to inclement weather — were not enough to dampen Lumber Liquidators’ results in the fourth quarter.

The company achieved record highs for net sales and operating margin and continues to gain further traction in its key, multi-year strategic initiatives.

For the quarter, net income increased 50.6% to $20.8 million, from $13.8 million in the fourth quarter of the prior year.

Foot Locker has elected Steven Oakland, president of international, foodservice and natural foods at the J.M. Smucker Company, as a director of the company.

Oakland has spent the bulk of his career at J.M. Smucker serving in increasingly senior positions. He has experience in domestic and international retail operations at the company, having also served as president of U.S. retail for Smucker's, Jif and Hungry Jack, and as GM of its Canadian operations.

The new Wonder e-gift card app from Wonder Technologies is available free in the iTunes App store. Wonder allows consumers to instantly deliver e-gifts from participating retailers to anyone with an email address or mobile phone number.

Signet Jewelers is in the process of acquiring all issued and outstanding stock of Zale for $21 per share in cash consideration. The transaction brings together two leading jewelry retailers with six brands available across three countries with combined sales of $6.2 billion.

More Americans this year are expected to put their tax returns in the bank. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF)’s Tax Returns Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, 46% of those expecting a refund this year will put their money into savings, up from 44% last year and the highest percent in the survey’s history.

Shopzilla, a leading source for connecting buyers and sellers online, has acquired Connexity, a pioneer in the programmatic media buying and optimization space.

The Hertz Corp. and Costco in the U.K. have teamed up to bring short-term Hertz 24/7 van rental to Costco's members.

The self-drive service operates at all 25 Costco warehouses in the U.K. Costco's members can hire a van from the warehouse car parks to drive their purchased items home immediately.

A week after rival Home Depot announced plans to 80,000 seasonal spring employees, Lowe’s announced its plans to hire approximately 25,000 seasonal employees at its U.S. stores for the busy spring season.

Seasonal jobs available are focused on customer support and include cashiers, lawn and garden employees, loaders and stockers.