Sales & Marketing

New York -- GameStop plans to close 200 stores by next year, Bloomberg reported.

The closings were announced on a conference call, shortly after the chain reported better-than expected third-quarter results, excluding an impairment charge.

For the third quarter ended Oct. 27, GameStop posted a net loss of $624.3 million after impairment and goodwill costs of $678.8 million, mostly tied to international operations. That’s compared with net income of $53.9 million a year earlier.

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. reported Thursday net income of $637 million for the third quarter, compared with $555 million in the prior-year period and beating Wall Street expectations.
 
The retailer previously reported that sales rose 3.4% to $16.60 billion in the quarter, and same-store sales climbed 2.9%.

Target is forecasting a fourth-quarter earnings range that at the high-end tops estimates.

City of Industry, Calif. -- Hot Topic Inc. reported Wednesday that profit for the third quarter jumped 38% to $4.3 million, from $3.1 million in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue edged up 2% to $179.4 million from $175.8 million, missing Wall Street’s expected $182.9 million in revenue.

Same-store sales rose a slight 0.2%.

Kearney, Neb. -- The Buckle reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended Oct. 27 rose 9% to $41.9 million, boosted by online strength and higher same-store sales.

Overall revenue rose 4% to $284.1 million, beating Wall Street’s predicted $282.8 million. Same-store sales climbed 2.4%.

A 2.9% third quarter same store sales increase and the sale of its credit card business pushed Target’s third quarter profit up 17.6% to 96 cents a share.

Total sales increased 3.4% to $16.6 billion in third quarter due to the 2.9% comp increase and the benefit of a net increase of 18 stores compared to the prior year. Target ended the period with 1,781 stores and was up against a challenging prior year comparison when comps advanced 4.3%.

Columbus, Ohio -- Limited Brands Inc. reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended Oct. 27 dropped to $73.4 million from $94.3 million in the same quarter last year. Results still managed to beat Wall Street expectations.

Limited, which also owns Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works, saw sales slip 5.7% to $2.05 billion from $2.17 billion, but results matched analysts’ forecasts. Same-store sales climbed 5%.

Purchase, N.Y. -- A report released Wednesday by MasterCard Advisors, the professional services arm of MasterCard in partnership with Wells Fargo, found that spending at small retailers in October slowed to an increase of 4.2% year over year, down from a 5.8% growth rate in September.

This was the slowest year-over-year growth rate for smaller retailers in 2012, falling below the growth rate of total U.S. retail sales by one percentage point.        

A new relationship with Citi Retail Services gives OfficeMax another benefit to tout when serving small business customers.

The retailer worked with Citi to launch the new store-branded credit card tied to the OfficeMax MaxPerk Rewards program which allows customers to receive a $25 reward for every $500 spent on qualified purchases. In addition, the no-annual fee product provides special financing offers, flexible payment options a dedicated line of credit for business expenses and detailed tracking of purchases.