Sales & Marketing

Samsung Electronics America announced that its 2013 TVs will begin shipping this month in the United States, beginning with the LED 8000-series and the Plasma 8500-series.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — DSW reported that its fourth quarter sales increased 15.7% to $594.3 million from $513.7 million for the same period last year. Comparable sales increased 3.6%.

The company reported that fourth quarter adjusted EPS rose to 69 cents per share, an increase of 35.3% per share.

Full year sales increased 11.5% to $2.3 billion, and comparable sales increase 5.5%.

Adjusted EPS for the year rose to $3.35 per share for the full year, up from $3.00 per share in 2011.

OAK BROOK, Ill. — Ace Hardware has launched a new marketing campaign, Meet the Aces, designed to promote the hardware co-op/retailer’s personal service. 

The new campaign also reintroduces, for the first time in more than 15 years, the words of Ace’s iconic jingle, “Ace is the place with the helpful hardware man,” but changed slightly (from “man” to “folks”) to reflect all Ace associates.

WABAN, Mass. — Sam's Club and Amazon were among the retailers that earned top marks for customer service, according to the consulting firm Temkin Group.

According to the 2013 Temkin Experience Rankings which queried 10,000 U.S. consumers about customer service issues across 246 companies in 19 industries, Sam's Club and Amazon earned the top spots in the retail sector and RadioShack was the lowest rated retailer for the third consecutive year.

San Francisco — Williams-Sonoma reported that fourth-quarter earnings per share grew 15% to $1.34 and that quarterly revenue grew to $1.406 billion versus $1.268 billion in 2011, with comparable brand revenue growth of 4%.

Fiscal 2012 earnings per share grew 14% to $2.54. Net revenues for the year grew to $4.043 billion versus $3.721 billion in fiscal year ended January 29, 2012 with comparable brand revenue growth of 6.1%.

Profits outpaced sales growth at General Mills during the third quarter ended February 24 and the company vowed to launch a promising slate of new products and increase store support during the current quarter.

Framingham, Mass. — Staples has launched its own Windows Store app for Staples.com. The app provides customers with access to Staples Rewards and features tools that make it easier for small businesses to research and shop for everything they need for their business or home office, the company said.

Weber-Stephen Products, a manufacturer of charcoal and gas grills, has named Thomas Koos as CEO, effective April 1. Current Weber-Stephen president and CEO Jim Stephen will become executive chairman of the company.

"Tom's global business experience, passion for building brands and deep knowledge of our distribution channels makes him a great fit for Weber," said Stephen. "I look forward to working with Tom and our team at Weber as we continue to expand and promote our strong brand around the world."