Sales & Marketing

Strong sales of new products and fleece allowed athletic performance brand Under Armour to grow sales 23% to $472 million during its first quarter ended March 31.

Despite the solid increase in sales, the 12th consecutive quarter of revenue growth in excess of 20%, net income tumbled 47% to $8 million, or 7 cents a share, due largely to the timing of marketing expenses associated with the company’s largest ever global marketing campaign.

Lowe's has released its Corporate Social Responsibility Report Card, which covers education, environment and more. 

“To achieve greater progress for our communities and our company, we continue to build on our commitment to never stop improving,” said Robert Niblock, Lowe’s chairman, president and CEO. “We’re focused on carrying out those responsibilities every day with the help of our 245,000 employees across North America.” 

NEW YORK — The revolving door continues to turn at Penney with the news that Ron Johnson-appointee Nick Wooster, SVP of product and design is out while company veteran Ken Mangone has returned to the fold. 

Mangone, who left Penney last December after 35 years with the company, is returning to his previous post as EVP of product development, design and sourcing. His return is one of new CEO Myron Ullman’s first major moves in personnel.

Boston -- Research findings released Thursday by mobile-retail marketer Swirl found that a full 76% of women prefer shopping in stores over shopping via their smartphones.

“What Women Want When Apparel Shopping,” which polled 1,000 women shoppers, also revealed that 53% of women have between one and five shopping apps on their smartphones. Yet, still, they opt for the store experience.

FORT WORTH — RadioShack has named Jennifer Warren as its new SVP and CMO, and Michael DeFazio as its new SVP of store concepts. 

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot announced Thursday that it has debuted a new corporate citizenship website – Officedepotcitizenship.com – in recognition of Earth Month.

The site provides information about the company’s various initiatives, including ethics, diversity and the environment, presented in an interactive format.

Cleveland-based Sherwin-Williams Co. reported a sales increase of 1.4% in the first quarter ended March 31, thanks to higher volume in the Paint Stores Group.

Net income increased 16% to $116.2 million.

The company's consolidated net sales increased 1.4% to $2.17 billion. The Paint Stores Group saw sales increase 4.0% to $1.17 billion in the quarter. The company pointed to higher architectural paint sales volume across all end-market segments. Comp-store sales for paint stores increased 3.2%.

By Gregg Clark, [email protected]