Data & Analytics

Westborough, Mass. -- BJ’s Wholesale Club reported Wednesday that profit for the quarter ended April 30 rose to $33.7 million, beating its guidance range of $29.5 million to $31.5 million.

Net sales for first quarter 2011 increased 10% to $2.77 billion and same-store club sales rose 6.3%.

Atlanta -- RedPrairie Corp., a global supply chain and retail technology provider, announced that Levin Furniture has gone live with RedPrairie’s fleet management solution for complete route and load planning across its home-delivery operations.

The system will run in tandem with RedPrairie’s warehouse management solution, which Levin implemented at its distribution center in Smithton, Pa.,over two years ago.

Indianapolis -- KFC is looking to earn LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for its newest restaurant in Indianapolis. The building is designed to use 25% less energy and water than a conventional KFC restaurant. It features energy-efficient cooking equipment, LED lighting, locally sourced building materials, recycling for cooking oil and plastics, fixtures designed for lower water use, and parking preference for hybrid vehicles.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Amazon.com announced that it plans to expand its customer service center in Grand Forks, N.D.,  creating more than 200 full-time jobs and hundreds of seasonal jobs at the facility by the end of 2012.

Minneapolis -- Despite weakened sales in the first quarter ended April 30, Target Corp. saw net income rise 2.7% on the strength of its credit-card business.

The retailer reported on Wednesday net income of $689 million in the first quarter, up from $671 million in the year-ago period.

Total revenue rose 2.2% to $15.94 billion. Same-store sales rose 2%.

Analysts expected revenue of $16.02 billion.

By Ramsey Mansour, [email protected]

Bloomfield Hills, Mich. -- Convenience-store operator GasAmerica is utilizing JobApp Network’s automated hiring management solution for c-stores. Following a phased approach, the Indiana-based chain has now completed rolling out the solution to all of its 86 locations.

According to GasAmerica, hiring success starts with JobApp, which makes it easy for people to apply around the clock.

MINNEAPOLIS — First-quarter sales at Target increased 2.8% to $15.6 billion, and same-store sales increased 2% the company reported. The modest sales growth translated into earnings per share that advance 9.8% to 99 cents, four cent better than analysts’ consensus estimate of 95 cents, and net income that increased 2.7% to $689 million. Share repurchase activity contributed to the earnings per share growth as Target spent $819 million during the first quarter to buy back 15.4 million shares at an average price of $53.32.