Sales & Marketing

City of Industry, Calif. -- Hot Topic Inc. reported Wednesday that profit rose to $3.1 million in the quarter ended Oct. 29, compared with $400,000 in the year-ago period. Prior-year results were weighed down by charges from its ShockHound website, which folded.

Revenue fell 4% to $175.8 million from $183.2 million in the quarter, missing Wall Street’s expected $177.8 million in revenue.

Same-store sales dipped 1.6% at Hot Topic and Torrid stores, attributed to disappointing Halloween sales.
 

SECAUCUS, N.J. — The economy may be keeping some families from purchasing new clothes for their children, but that didn't stop The Children's Place from delivering earnings that beat estimates.

The company reported income from continuing operations of $33.7 million, or $1.33 per diluted share, compared with $31.2 million, or $1.14 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2010. Analysts were expecting earnings of $1.27 per diluted share.

Chesapeake, Va. -- Dollar Tree reported Thursday that profit for the third quarter rose 12.1% to $104.5 million, from $93.2 million a year earlier.

Revenue rose 11.9% to $1.6 billion, surpassing Wall Street’s expected $1.58 billion. Performance has been consistent with the strength of the category, as the discounter has recorded double-digit year-over-year percentage revenue increases over the past five quarters.

Same-store sales rose 4.8% in the third quarter.

Columbus, Ohio -- Limited Brands Inc. reported Wednesday that profit for the third quarter rose 22% on higher sales at its Victoria’s Secret and Bath and Body Works chains.

Net income rose to $94.3 million from $61.3 million a year earlier. As reported previously, revenue rose 10% to $2.17 billion.

The company has raised its outlook for the fourth quarter.
 

Dallas -- SRS Real Estate Partners announced it has hired Kyle Stonis as a senior VP in the Atlanta office.

Stonis will focus on strengthening the investment sales platform for SRS in Atlanta and throughout the Southeast.

Previous to SRS, Stonis worked for Bull Realty in Atlanta as a retail investment broker and senior VP.

SAN FRANCISCO — Ahmad Ouri has been named president of Premier Retail Networks, a global leader in digital place-based media services. Based in San Francisco, Ouri will oversee all PRN activities and lead the development and strategic growth of the company, which is wholly owned by Technicolor.

San Francisco -- Gap Inc. announced that shoppers at more than 65 of its stores across the Bay Area can now use Google Wallet to pay with a single tap of your phone.

Google Wallet supports most Citi PayPass eligible MasterCard credit cards and the Google Prepaid Card.
 

MINNEAPOLIS — Profits at Target grew 10.2% to 82 cents in the third quarter compared with 74 cents the prior year thanks to healthy sales growth and ongoing improvement in the company’s credit card business.