Data & Analytics

CANTON, Mass. — Net income at Destination XL Group, formerly Casual Male, dropped to $4.2 million from $33.5 million for the fourth quarter in the year-ago period.

Fourth-quarter revenue increased to $114.9 million, compared with $111.1 million last year, and same-store sales edged up 0.5%. By brand, DXL stores saw a same-store sales rise of 15% in the quarter, while Casual Male dipped 2.3%.

ServiceSource, a provider of recurring revenue management, has announced that Robert Ashe, a proven industry software CEO at Cognos and former IBM executive, has joined its board of directors. Ashe’s appointment adds key talent to continue building leading edge functionality into Renew OnDemand, the world's only cloud application designed to increase recurring revenue, and to rapidly deploy customers on this new SaaS platform.

Retail innovation cycles last approximately 20 years. As we take a look at retail history, this cycle becomes self-evident. From the general store to department stores to discount stores and so forth, each variety has their day in the sun as the leading channel for most purchases. Today, we’re lucky enough to be living within two powerful cycles simultaneously. But the fun will soon come to an end.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized Sears Holdings with a 2013 Energy Star Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence Award for its continued leadership in protecting the environment through superior energy efficiency. This year, Sears Holdings is being awarded for both its role as a retailer of Energy Star certified products and for energy management in its stores. Sears Holdings' accomplishments will be recognized at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., on March 26.

NEW YORK — The Jones Group has named Greg Clark to the position of chief marketing officer, effective immediately. Clark will report to Stefani Greenfield, chief creative officer, and will oversee global marketing and brand identity for the company's portfolio of fashion brands.

ATLANTA — Innotrac Corp., a best-of-breed commerce provider integrating digital technology, fulfillment, and contact center solutions to support global brands, has announced the appointment of Steve Keaveney as its new CFO.

Keaveney brings to Innotrac more than 25 years of experience in finance, accounting and operations for both publicly and privately held companies.  He has extensive experience in financial leadership, revenue growth, analysis and budgeting.

Dallas -- The 49th annual SPECS conference officially kicked off on Monday morning at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas with two kinds of inspiration: Greg Buzek, present of IHL Consulting Group, introduced the Retail Orphan Initiative, and U.S. Navy Seal Scott Taylor presented Afterburner Black Ops, challenging the audience of retailers in design, construction, facilities, store planning and development to use Seal techniques to run their organizations.

Charlotte, N.C. — Harris Teeter Together in Education (TIE) on Monday donated more than $385,000 to participating TIE schools during the second of three payouts of the 2012/2013 school year, raising the program total to $18.7 million since 1998.

Boston — Raley’s Family of Fine Stores, a privately held supermarket chain with a presence in Northern California and Nevada, has partnered with BzzAgent, the social marketing arm of Dunnhumby, to develop the first grocery retailer advocacy online platform to further enhance its new loyalty program, Something Extra.

By Krisha Brooks, VP engineering services, GMR

Whether the facility is a restaurant or retail storefront, owners and managers can agree sufficient lighting plays a key role in exterior facility safety. On a superficial level, lighting plays a significant role in presenting a warm and inviting storefront for customers. However, from a personnel, customer and branding standpoint, having adequate lighting in place that is regularly maintained, inspected and positioned makes an important difference towards alleviating safety and liability concerns.