Retail

Reference to the posthumous gyrations of Walmart’s legendary founder Sam Walton were quite common in recent years as the company pursued a wide range of disruptive strategies in the name of Project Impact. You never had to look far to find someone with an opinion on how Walton would feel about some aspect of Walmart’s business, as the universe of those who profess to have some unique insight into his psyche is so large.

Burlington, Mass. -- Demandware announced that Boot Barn, the largest western wear retailer in the world, has relaunched its e-commerce site, BootBarn.com, on the Demandware Commerce platform. Launched in September, the site kicked into high gear with a large boost in online sales during the 2010 holiday season and has continued its strong momentum into 2011.

MATTHEWS, N.C. -- Family Dollar Stores announced that it will continue to implement its strategic plan. The decision was agreed upon unanimously by the company's board of directors who decided the strategic plan was the best way to deliver value to all Family Dollar shareholders.  The company also reported that it would not entertain the proposal from Trian Group to acquire Family Dollar and that pursuit of a sale of the company is not in the best interest of shareholders.  

SAN DIEGO -- ShowUhow Inc., developer and provider of on-demand, video-based Product Guides, has appointed Anthony Wyatt to EVP sales and marketing.

Wyatt will be responsible for leading the sales and marketing initiatives at ShowUhow and is challenged to drive the company to its next strategic milestones. He will be leading a national sales strategy for the ShowUhow team to target leading product manufacturers and top retailers.

Fort Worth, Texas -- Pier 1 Imports’ same-store sales increased rose 8.9% in the fourth quarter. The chain also offered earnings guidance for the quarter that was slightly above what Wall Street expects.

Total revenue for the quarter rose 8% to $427 million from $396 million.

For the full year, which ended Feb. 26, same-store were up 10.9% while total revenue rose to $1.4 billion from just under $1.3 billion.

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Bi-Lo has developed and launched its own nutritional tagging system that identifies healthful attributes in particular foods.

The retailer said the system features a wide range of categories established by Bi-Lo’s registered dietitian, Monica Amburn. Amburn said the system allows customers to create positive attitudes about healthy eating.

The tags highlight such benefits as "low sodium" or "an excellent source of vitamin C," as well as gluten-free and organic products.

Cincinnati -- Kroger Co. said Thursday that its fourth-quarter net income jumped 9.2% while sales rose 7.4%. It also announced that its board authorized a $1 billion stock repurchase plan.

Net income was $278.8 million, compared with $255.4 million in the year-ago period. Quarterly revenue rose to $19.9 billion, with same-store sales up 3.8%.

Kroger offered a cautious outlook for the current year, saying rising fuel costs are likely to take a bite out of household budgets.

Walmart executives will take to the road next week to speak at two investor conferences where it would seem unlikely that little if any new information will be shared since the conferences are just two weeks removed from the release of Walmart’s fourth-quarter results.