Sales & Marketing

CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Dollar Tree achieved the highest first-quarter operating margin in its history in the first quarter ended May 4.

Consolidated net sales for the first quarter ended May 4 were $1.9 billion, an 8% increase from $1.7 billion for the quarter ended April 28 last year. The value retailer saw a comparable store sales increase of 2% on top of a 6% increase for the first quarter last year.

Charlotte, N.C. – Specialty women’s apparel and accessories retailer Cato Corp. reported declining sales and net income during first quarter 2013. Sales dropped 2% from $272.8 million to $267.2 million, while net income fell 3% from $31.7 million to $30.8 million. Same-store sales also declined compared to the same quarter a year earlier, by 5%.

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Eddie Bauer first ascent guide Melissa Arnot summited Mt. Everest for the fifth time, the most of any woman in history. Arnot's celebratory summit falls only weeks after the 50th anniversary of the 1963 expedition outfitted by Eddie Bauer that marked the first American summit of the mountain by Jim Whittaker and his Sherpa partner, Nawang Gombu, and later by Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld via the West Ridge.

Chesapeake, Va. – Dollar Tree reported record net sales for first quarter 2013, with consolidated net sales of $1.87 billion, an 8% increase from $1.72 billion during the same quarter of the prior year. Net income totaled $133.5 million, and same store sales grew 2.1%, on top of a 5.6% increase recorded during first quarter 2012. Dollar Tree estimates full fiscal year net sales will range from $7.81 billion to $7.97 billion.

Dollar Tree president and CEO Bob Sasser said he is pleased with the first quarter results.

New York -- Jamba Juice tapped NCR Corporation to help it make mobile ordering easier for its customers. NCR, in collaboration with PayPal, has developed a series of customized mobile solutions, including a Jamba Juice branded iOS and Android mobile ordering and payment solution.

SAN ANTONIO — This Memorial Day weekend, Walmart and Sam's Club will launch the company's initiative to hire 100,000 veterans throughout the next five years.  

The event will take place Saturday, May 25, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Walmart supercenter located at 8923 W. Military Rd. Lunch and giveaways will be provided by Walmart and Sam's Club suppliers, including Johnsonville's World's Largest Grill. The event is part of the continuing Saluting Heroes Together campaign, which Walmart launched May 18 with Operation Homefront. 

New York -- A Thursday report by Bloomberg said that U.S. consumer confidence for the week ended May 19 advanced, indicating that Americans’ outlook on the economy is optimistic.

The weekly Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index increased to minus 29.4 from minus 30.2 the prior week. A measure of personal finances was positive for a sixth consecutive week, the longest stretch in more than five years, according to Bloomberg.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — OfficeMax Workplace, the U.S. business-to-business division of OfficeMax, has expanded its IT Lifecycle Management Services to help customers streamline their technology work environments. 

The company has added HP Networking solutions to its portfolio, which also includes technology offerings from Motorola and Cisco. The move provides organizations with more options to modernize their wireless and wired networks, increase productivity, unify digital communications and grow their networking capacity.