Sales & Marketing

Bensalem, Pa. -- Charming Shoppes said Thursday that its first-quarter net income more than quintupled, but its revenue was flat and the profit rise was driven largely by cost cutting.

The CEO sounded a cautious tone for the future, saying the company needs to reignite store traffic and cope with rising cotton costs.

The company, which operates Lane Bryant, Catherines and Fashion Bug stores, said its net income for February through April was $26 million, up from $3.9 million in the same period last year.

Seattle -- Starbucks Corp. announced it has acquired full ownership of Starbucks stores in the China provinces of Guangdong, Hainan, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Hubei in an agreement with Maxim’s Caterers Ltd., the coffee company’s joint-venture partner. As a result, Starbucks said now has full control of more than half of the Starbucks retail stores in Mainland China as it looks to accelerate growth in the future.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears Holdings has announced the winner of its "Tu Empresa, Tu Futuro/Your Company, Your Future Business" grant competition, which provides grants to Hispanic small business owners.

The four $5,000 grants were awarded to:

• Tayde Aburto, The Hispanic Chamber of E-Commerce

• Jennifer Burrell, The Frock Shop

• Elizabeth Tarpley, Targeted Tech Solutions

• Kristen Harris, Party Palette

New York City -- Luxury, high-end jewelry and e-commerce enjoyed strong growth in May, as did the restaurant category, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, which tracks national retail and services sales. Apparel also continued to show gains, the report found, while housing-related sectors such as furniture, electronics and appliances all saw sales decline compared with the same period in 2010.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Same-store sales at Rite Aid increased by 1.3% in May, compared with the year-ago period, the retail pharmacy chain said Thursday.

Reporting sales for the five-week period that ended May 28, Rite Aid said front-end same-store sales increased 1.8%, while same-store sales in the pharmacy increased by 1%, including a 129-basis point offset due to introductions of new generic drugs. Prescription count increased 0.1%.

Total drug store sales during the period were nearly $2.5 billion, a 1% increase over $2.45 billion in May 2010.

New York City -- Robert K. Futterman & Associates said it recently secured the first Manhattan Chobani location at 150 Prince St. in SoHo, located on the southwest corner of West Broadway.

The 550-sq.-ft. space, formerly occupied by Swatch, is set to open this summer.

The SoHo location will introduce the Greek yogurt brand to a thriving retail corridor of Manhattan surrounded by co-tenants that include Lucky Brand, Cole Haan, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, among others.
 

NEW YORK — Macy's has announced a number of initiatives in support of LGBT pride month this June. 

Macy's "Pride and Joy" campaign will feature a multitude of in-store fashion events, commemorative advertising and window displays, pride merchandise in select stores, gift registry booths for couples in key cities, celebrity appearances, as well as sponsorship and employee participation in pride parades across the country.

Kansas City, Kan. -- A report released Thursday by Compdata Surveys found that although the economy is still struggling to make significant strides towards recovery, small improvements are starting to become more evident.

The 2011 Compensation Data Services survey results found pay increase budgets remained relatively stable at 2.4%, reflecting a slight increase from 2.2% in 2010. Pay increase budgets are projected to continue slowly increasing in 2012 to 2.5%.