Distribution

Costco shareholders are a happy lot these days between the company’s surging share price, huge special dividends and now another substantial increase in the company’s regular quarterly payout.

Late Friday, with shareholders already sitting on a 30% increase in the stock price during the past year, the company gave them another reason to smile by hiking its dividend 12.3% to 40 cents a share, or $1.60 on an annual basis, from the current quarterly dividend of 35.5 cents, or $1.42.

Staples is looking to Martha Stewart once again to re-invigorate its home office product assortment.

The retailer and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia have announced a new, multi-year strategic direct retail collaboration for the manufacture and distribution of a brand new line of Martha Stewart Home Office products.

New York -- Simply Fashion Stores Ltd. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and announced plans to liquidate nearly all of its assets. In its filing, it noted that the “exact plan” for the future of the company is still being refined.

The Birmingham, Alabama-based urban fashion retailer, which caters mostly to African-American women, operates some 250 stores in 25 states.

Framingham, Mass. – Staples Inc. will acquire Accolade Promotion Group (APG), a distributor of promotional products in Canada. The acquisition will build on Staples' position as a distributor of promotional products in North America and will expand the breadth of offering for its customers.

Canton, Mass. – Dunkin’ Donuts has signed a multi-unit store development agreement with new franchise group Legacy Concepts LLC to develop 10 new restaurants in Minneapolis and the surrounding areas of Bloomington, Edina, Eden Prairie and the communities west of the metro area. The first restaurant is planned to open by the end of 2015.

Physical expansion remains the primary growth driver of many a U.S. retailer, but the likes of Alibaba and rival JD.com are allowing U.S. retailers and brands to tap the Chinese market without the aggravation and financial uncertainty associated with establishing a physical presence.

Shares of Party City enjoyed a nice first-day pop on April 16 after the company completed its initial public stock offering.

A total of 21,875,000 shares were priced at $17 in the offering and began trading at $20.15. By the end of the first day’s trading, shares had advanced $3.70 to close up 21.8% at $20.70. The company’s ticker symbol is PRTY.

An inventory build at Lowe’s in preparation for the launch of a new HGTV Home brand of paint was cited as the source of strong sales growth by paint supplier Sherwin Williams.

Spring is a popular time for painting and home improvement retailers typically promote the category extensively. Lowe’s looks to be ready for the season with a new brand launching called HGTV Home by Sherwin Williams.

Commerce, Calif. - Smart & Final Stores Inc. is pricing an underwritten public offering of 10 million shares of its common stock at $18.50 per share. The shares are owned by certain stockholders of the company, including affiliates of Ares Management L.P.

Beijing, China – Chinese direct sales company JD.com Inc. is launching JD Worldwide, its new cross-border e-commerce platform that directly challenges Alibaba. JD Worldwide provides Chinese consumers with authentic imported products.

In a coup over Alibaba, JD.com is also launching of "Best of EBay Deals," a pilot program on the new platform in partnership with EBay. EBay’s channel on JD Worldwide will showcase a variety of merchandise from select EBay sellers in the U.S.