Retail

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe's rebranding efforts and focus on delivering a better customer experience seem to be paying off as the company ended the year with strong fourth-quarter sales and earnings.

The company reported net earnings of $322 million for the fourth quarter, a 13% increase over the same period a year ago. Diluted earnings per share increased 23.8% to 26 cents from 21 cents in the fourth quarter of 2010. 

Dallas -- SRS Real Estate Partners announced two new hires in the South Florida office, as Dominic Delgado and Evan Richardson both joined the team as senior associates.

Delgado will focus on investment services, landlord representation, tenant representation and disposition services.  Prior to joining SRS, he worked in Miami as community association management coordinator for KW Property Management.

San Francisco -- Jones Lang LaSalle announced that John Stevens joined the firm’s San Francisco office as VP leasing specialist. A 25-year veteran of commercial real estate, Stevens will focus on leasing space in the firm’s 12 million-sq.-ft., third-party retail portfolio on the West Coast.

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Domino's Pizza is launching its brand new Android smartphone ordering app. With the launch, and in addition to its existing iPhone app which debuted last June, Domino's will now offer its mobile ordering app to more than 80% of smartphones.

The new app, which is compatible with Android version 2.1 and higher, extends many of the features of Domino's online ordering platform including: coupon search, full national menu, GPS store locator and the ability to follow orders with Domino's Tracker.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Two Feeding America food banks and a Macomb County, Mich., resident were named winners of Meijer's "Get Gifted" online holiday contest.

The retailer said it donated $10,000 to Gleaners Community Food Bank and Forgotten Harvest last week and named Vickie Spokes its grand prize winner of $10,000 in Meijer gift cards.

New York City -- The Home Depot is expanding its use of PayPal, the online payment service of eBay, from the 51 stores in the pilot program to all of the home improvement retailer’s stores, Dow Jones Newswire reported.

Don Kingsborough, PayPal VP for retail and prepaid products, said PayPal should be available at all of Home Depot's approximate 2,000 U.S. locations by the end of next month, according to the report.

Barcelona -- eBay on Monday announced a number of strategic moves including a new partnership with major carrier Three.co.uk; integrations with merchants such as Yotel and Entradas.com; and mobile app updates that evolve mobile commerce selling and shopping experiences for consumers.

BENSALEM, Pa. — Charming Shoppes is making it easier than ever for women to design and share their favorite looks. On the heels of the successful launch of their new fit and style technology, Fashion Genius, Lane Bryant and its sister brands Catherines, Fashion Bug and Sonsi have further enabled the customer's shopping experience by enabling women to build personalized outfits based on their Fashion Genius fit and style profile, share their outfit creations across their preferred social network and vote for their favorite customer created looks.