Sales & Marketing

MINNEAPOLIS — Earnings and comparable-store sales slipped at Best Buy, where the retailer suffered slower sales in key departments and a slowdown in consumer spending. Best Buy  has reported net earnings of $177 million, or 47 cents per diluted share, for its fiscal second quarter ended Aug. 27, compared with $254 million, or 60 cents per diluted share, for the prior-year period.

Winston-Salem, N.C. — Family Dollar Stores has found itself a way to better understand how customers respond to its in-store displays and promotions, and how they can be improved to generate more sales. The discount retailer has engaged RockTenn, manufacturer of consumer packaging solutions and BVI Networks, a provider of real-time in-store monitoring, to open the first large format "ShopperGauge" branded retail learning lab at Family Dollar Stores.

Minneapolis -- Best Buy Co. reported Tuesday that net income for the quarter ended Aug. 27 plummeted 30% to $177 million from $254 million a year earlier, missing Wall Street expectations.

DALLAS — While the still struggling economy may have rendered most Americans cautious spenders, such luxury retailers as Neiman Marcus remain resilient. The company reported that total revenues for the fourth quarter were $919.7 million compared with $826.3 million for the prior year. Comparable revenues increased 11%. Operating earnings for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011 were $17.5 million compared with $4.5 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2010.

Salt Lake City -- Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based shopping center owner Taubman Centers announced Tuesday the first 20 retailers – all new to the market and most new to Utah – coming to City Creek Center, the 700,000-sq.-ft. retail component of mixed-used development City Creek in downtown Salt Lake City.

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. said Tuesday that its entire website crashed due to unusually high demand for its just-released Missoni for Target collection. Various newspapers reported that the collection was flying off the shelves of stores, and that some stores were sold out within minutes.

The hotly anticipated Missoni line features some 400 items, ranging from housewares to apparel. It is Target’s largest, limited-time designer collection to date.

New York City -- For every $100 in fraudulent transactions, retailers incurred a “true” cost of $230, according to a new study released Tuesday by LexisNexis Risk Solutions.

According to the study, retail merchants and financial institutions reported an overall decline in fraud rates and transactions while total retail sales rose. Consumers also experienced a decline in fraud losses overall but the average time it took to resolve fraud issues rose by 57% and the out-of-pocket costs of fraud rose by $244.

PHOENIX, Ariz. — The Global Market Development Center announced that its members have elected two new board members to serve in two-year terms on their board of directors: Mike Petocchi, business group manager HBC/cosmetics with Wegmans Food Markets; and former GMDC chairman of the board, Jim Wonderly, VP grocery non-foods/GM Ahold USA.