Business Intelligence (BI)

Kearney, Neb. -- The Buckle reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended Jan. 29 rose to $49.5 million, compared with $42.1 million in the year-ago period.

Sales rose 10.4% to $303.1 million, from $274.4 million.

Same-store sales increased 6.3%.

For the full year, The Buckle reported that net income rose to $134.7 million from $127.3 million in 2009. Yearly sales increased 5.7% to $949.8 million, from $898.3 million. Same-store sales edged up 1.2%.

Jacksonville, Fla. -- Stein Mart reported Thursday that fourth quarter profit surged to $18.8 million from $2.7 million in the year-ago period. Results included an income tax benefit in fourth quarter 2010.

Revenue for the quarter ended Jan. 29 decreased 1.5% to $336.7 million, compared with $341.8 a year earlier. Same-store sales dipped 1.2%.

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Thursday by the U.S. Labor Department showed that jobless claims in the United States rose by 26,000 for the week ended March 5, to 397,000.

Economists expected claims would climb to 376,000, according to a Bloomberg News survey. The total number of people receiving benefits in the prior week fell to the lowest since October 2008.

YONKERS, N.Y. -- In another positive sign for the economy,  the March Consumer Reports Index reveals its most positive results in two years.

According to Consumer Reports National Research Center, which conducts the survey, the Consumer Sentiment Index has broken into positive territory at 50.3, which is up from 48.7 a month ago. This is the first time sentiment has been in positive territory since it was first measured in October 2008.

New York City -- Best Buy is studying a variety of devices for its in-store employees to use, including the Galaxy Tab from Samsung, the original iPad and Motorola Mobility’s Xoom, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“While we plan in the future to supply each store a limited number of handheld devices to use as sales tools when assisting the consumer, we have not many any final decision at this time,” a Best Buy representative said, according to the report.

DEDHAM, Mass. -- Cabela’s Inc. announced that it has implemented Reflexis Task Manager and StoreWalk to increase efficiency and improve the store-level execution of its retail strategy.

The Reflexis cloud computing solutions enable retailers to streamline corporate-to-store communication, ensure consistent execution of in-store merchandising and promotional plans, and improve compliance with safety and operational policies, according to a press release.

Dedham, Mass. -- Workforce management solution-provider Reflexis Systems said Monday that Sidney, Neb.-based Cabela’s has implemented Reflexis Task Manager and StoreWalk to increase efficiency and improve the store-level execution of its retail strategy.
 
The Reflexis cloud computing solutions, according to the company, enable retailers to streamline corporate-to-store communication, ensure consistent execution of in-store merchandising and promotional plans, and improve compliance with safety and operational policies.
 

New York City -- The Conference Board’s Employment Trends Index, released Monday, increased in February for the fifth consecutive month.

According to the Conference Board, the index now stands at 101.7, up from January’s revised figure of 100.1. The index is up over 8% from a year ago.