Supply Chain & Merchandising

Indianapolis -- The Finish Line Inc. on Friday reported a decline in its fourth-quarter profit and cautioned that profits in its current year may not hit expectations of a fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $40.8 million.

The retailer also authorized a new 5-million-share buyback program.

The Finish Line’s earnings in the fourth quarter fell 5% to $40.8 million.

Consolidated net sales for the quarter were $551.3 million, an increase of 6.3% over the prior year period. Same-store sales increased 2.6%.

Washington, D.C. - The Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS), a division of the National Retail Federation (NRF), has announced two major additions to the ARTS Standard Request for Proposals (RFP) library on selecting payments solutions and video analytics solutions. These standardized RFPs will help retail companies research software applications ahead of time.

Restoration Hardware is in the middle of a strategy overhaul that may slow down revenue growth, but the retailer did post better-than-expected profits in the fourth quarter.

Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. reported that its profit for the fourth quarter increased a better-than-expected 25% to $42.5 million from $34 million in the year-ago period. Restoration Hardware’s total sales in the fourth quarter grew 23.5% to $582.7 million. For the year, the company reported profit of $91 million. Revenue was reported as $1.87 billion.

Fort Worth, Texas – RadioShack is reportedly asking a bankruptcy court to approve a roughly $160 million bod from Standard General LP that would keep 1,743 stores of the retailer’s roughly 4,000 stores open. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Standard General bid also the backing of the official committee of RadioShack’s unsecured creditors.

Charlotte, N.C. – Belk Inc. credited strong holiday sales for helping to boost net income in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 8% to $104.4 million from $96.3 million the same period a year earlier.

 Net sales rose 5% to $1.39 billion from $1.32 billion, driven by a 2.4% increase in same-store sales and 42% surge in online sales.

Trendy teen retailer American Apparel reported a deep decline in fourth quarter revenue, as the company grapples with a social media scandal and losses stemming from an investigation of its former CEO.

Corte Madera, Calif. -- Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. (RH) reported that its profit for the fourth quarter increased a better-than-expected 25% to $42.5 million from $34.0 million in the year-ago period. The upscale home furnishings company cited the West Coast port slowdown in providing first-quarter guidance that fell short of projections. But it remained upbeat about the long-term, and disclosed that it is working on two new concepts that will be revealed later this year.  

Belk blamed costs associated with strategic initiatives for its drop in profit in the fourth quarter.

The retailer reported a 7.8% decrease in net income to $146.1 million during the fiscal year that ended Jan. 31, compared with from $158.5 million in fiscal 2014.