Sales & Marketing

New York -- The SPECS conference, presented each year by Chain Store Age, will debut a real estate track as part of the 49th annual event. Held in Dallas from March 17 to March 20 at the Hilton Anatole, SPECS will feature real estate workshops designed toward educating and informing the retail development executives who attend the SPECS conference.

Whirlpool has appointed Diane Dietz, executive VP and chief marketing officer of Safeway, to its board of directors, effective immediately.

"Diane Dietz's history of leadership in the consumer products industry makes her an outstanding addition to our board," said Jeff Fettig, Whirlpool chairman and CEO. "We know her breadth of experience in driving sales and building successful brands will be invaluable to our board of directors and Whirlpool Corporation." 

Mooresville, N.C. -- Lowe’s announced that Lara Lee will join the company as SVP customer experience design, effective Feb. 25. She will report to Robert J. (Bob) Gfeller, customer experience design executive.
 
Lee joined Lowe’s from global design and innovation firm Continuum, where she served as chief innovation and operating officer.

Lee will be responsible for translating business strategies into integrated, multichannel experiences that deliver value to home improvement consumers.

New York -- Walmart overcame a meager 1% same stores sales increase at U.S. stores to deliver better than expected fourth quarter profits on Thursday.

The company said total sales increased 3.9% to $127.1 billion compared to $122.3 billion last year. Without the benefit of a favorable currency exchange situation, sales would have increased a lesser 3.7% to $126.8 billion. Full year sales increased by 5% to $466.1 billion compared to last year’s total of $443.8.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — HSNi Inc. reported that its fourth quarter net sales grew 7% over the prior year to $982.9 million. HSN's net sales increased 7% to $683.8 million, including 11% growth in digital sales. Cornerstone's net sales for the 13-week period in 2012 increased 6% to $299.1 million, including 14% growth in digital sales, compared to the 14-week period in 2011.

GAAP diluted EPS from continuing operations increased 27% to $1 compared with 79 cents in the prior year. 

ATLANTA -- Newell Rubbermaid announced it will reaffirm its fiscal year 2013 outlook, as provided in its fourth quarter 2012 earnings press release dated Feb.1, 2013, during its presentation Thursday at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) conference.

The company’s guidance and key assumptions for the full year 2013 are as follows:

• Core sales increase of 2% to 4%.

• Net sales are expected to grow 1% to 3%

WASHINGTON — The Lenovo ThinkPad T430s topped TopTen USA's list for energy-efficiency.

The nonprofit group, appaluded he fact that the laptop uses only 7.4 kilowatt hours of electricity in a year of typical use. The average comparable model uses 28 kWh per year—almost 4 times the energy.  On average, TopTen-listed laptops use about half (48%) the energy of comparable models.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Alexa Latimer Dillard, wife of Dillard's founder, the late William Dillard, has passed away.

Born in Nashville, Arkansas on Oct. 30, 1916, Alexa Latimer married William T. Dillard on June 9, 1940. Dillard was known for her quick wit and eye for great merchandise, but more importantly for her unmatched devotion to her family, according to the company.