Sales & Marketing

Jacksonville, Fla. – Body Central swung to a net loss of $9.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2014 from net income of $2.7 million a year earlier. Net revenues decreased 26.6% to $59.7 million, compared to $81.4 million for the first quarter of 2013, and same-store sales fell 26.8%.

Fred's plans to implement a long-term marketing strategy stressing everyday low pricing and the convenience of a smaller box to help bolster sales against what the company describes as "intense competitive pressures." The company's pharmacy operations continue to grow, however.

Fred's reported $150 million in sales for the four weeks ended May 3, representing a decline of 1.6% as compared to year-ago sales. For the first quarter ended May 3, sales totaled $498.5 million, down 0.6%.

New York -- Many retailers reported better than expected sales in April, helped by warmer weather and a later-than-usual Easter. Gap Inc., L Brands, Costco Wholesale Club, The Buckle, Stein Mart and Zumiez all came in ahead of analysts estimates.

At Gap Inc., same-store rose a better-than-expected 9% in April. By banner, sales were up 3% at Gap stores, 7% at Banana Republic and 18% at Old Navy. Analysts had expected Gap’s total same-store sales to inch up 0.1%.

Reston, Va. - Among retailers and distribution firms that have deployed mobile apps to their workforces, 46% are using mobile apps for inspections, followed by 35% for checklists and 31% for surveys. According to a new survey of more than 1,100 business and IT decision makers conducted by mobile business app provider Canvas, 63% of all businesses surveyed see value in integrating core business applications, such as Dropbox, Square, Salesforce, Evernote and Quickbooks, with mobile devices and tools.

Although specialty retailer Cato had a rough March thanks to the shift of Easter from late March last year to mid-April this year, April was a whole other story.

The company reported sales of $93.5 million for the four weeks ended May 3, a 21% jump from sales of $77 million for the four weeks ended May 4, 2013. Same-store sales increased 18% for the month.

New York – Barnes & Noble Inc. reportedly plans to open about 300 new stores on college and university campuses in the next five years. According to Reuters, Barnes & Noble wants to expand its college bookstore footprint from the current 696 locations to 1,000.

Roundy's saw net sales increase by 1.9% to $1 billion, and reported a net loss of $4.5 million compared with net income of $8.6 million.

San Jose, Calif. - EBay and Invaluable are launching a partnership to offer traditional live auctions through real-time online bidding at auction houses around the world. Invaluable’s software solutions, including their online live bidding technology, will allow its partner auction houses to bring more than $4 billion of inventory onto the global eBay platform.