Sales & Marketing

New York -- BizHive CEO Kim Feil is bringing her retail marketing knowledge to the board of regional supermarket operator Roundy’s.

The publicly held operator of 149 stores in Wisconsin and Illinois said Feil brings to its board proven retail marketing experience and a keen understanding of consumer insights, marketing strategy and change management.

After five consecutive quarters of declining same-store sales, teen retailer the Buckle may be coming out of its slump.

The Nebraska-based company reported net sales of $353.5 million, 4.3% higher than the year-ago quarter. Same store sales grew 1.1%. Net income rose by about 1.3% to $60.1 million, producing earnings of $1.25 per share, ahead of analysts’ estimates.

New York -- Hibbett Sports is on track to open at least 80 new stores in 2015 as strong holiday sales and early tax refunds gave the retailer a boost in the January quarter.

The company posted quarterly earnings of $19.9 million, compared to $16.9 million, in the year-ago period. EPS surged to $0.79 from $0.64. Its sales gained 9.9% to $239.3 million. Same store sales rose 5.4% in the quarter.

Express is going full-steam ahead with its outlet-store strategy, with plans to open 30-plus stores in 2015. The retailer ended the year with 41 outlet stores in operation.

“Together they generated approximately $55 million of incremental revenue, far surpassing our initial estimate,” said Paul Dascoli, senior VP and CFO, Express, on the chain’s quarterly earnings call. Express is expanding its outlet store division both through new construction and conversions.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Increased selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses helped swing Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores Inc. to a net loss in a generally tough fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. Sears Hometown & Outlet reported an preliminary, unaudited net loss of $4.63 million, compared to net income of $3.72 million in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.

Net sales dropped 7% to $562.34 million from $602.48 million, partially driven by a 7.7% decline in same-store sales.

Aeropostale Inc. says it is considering closing as many as 75 additional stores despite reporting a smaller profit loss in the fourth quarter.

The company’s net loss narrowed to $13.5 million in the fourth quarter ended Jan. 31, down from $70.3 million a year earlier. Net sales fell 11.3% to $593.8 million. Comparable sales declined 9%. Aeropostale closed more than 180 stores over the three months that ended Jan. 31. It currently has about 850 stores in North America and another 239 licensed Aeropostale stores worldwide.

Washington, D.C. – The long winter chill put a damper on consumer spending and retail sales in February. According to data from the National Retail Federation (NRF), excluding automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants, retail sales declined 0.2% seasonally-adjusted month-to-month, yet were up 3% on an unadjusted year-over-year basis.

Additional findings from NRF’s monthly retail sales analysis found that:

Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers:
• -2.3% month-to-month

New York -- Ann Inc. on Friday posted a 94% drop in profit for the fourth quarter as incremental air freight costs in response to the West Coast ports dispute and lower margins resulting from increased promotional activity cut into sales. Its results, however, topped the Street forecasts. The company also announced efforts to deliver an additional $35 million in cost savings by 2016 through a new selling, general and administrative optimization program.