Data & Analytics

St. Louis -- Build-A-Bear Workshop said Thursday that it recorded net income of $8.3 million in the fiscal fourth quarter, compared with a loss of $0.9 million in the year-ago period.

Total sales for the period rose 2.2% to $125.8 million, from $123.1 million a year earlier. Same-store sales companywide dipped 3.7%.

For the full year, total revenues rose 1.4% to $401.5 million.

London -- A survey released Thursday said sales growth at Britain's Tesco PLC, the world's third biggest retailer, will outpace its major international rivals -- including Wal-Mart Stores -- in coming years as it expands in Asia, the Associated Press reported.

The report by London-based food and grocery analyst IGD says that Tesco will grow its business at a compound annual rate of 7.5% between 2010 and 2015, taking sales to euro106 billion ($143 billion).

Enterprising television reporters at KGTV in San Diego caused Walmart some grief this week when they uncovered that prices were ringing up incorrectly on some items and customers were not being offered a $3 refund in keeping with a 2008 court order. To watch the video click here or continuing reading.

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Thursday by the Labor Department said that applications for jobless benefits increased by 25,000 to 410,000 in the week ended Feb. 12, exceeding the 400,000 median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

The filings increase indicates that labor market will take time to develop.

The total number of people receiving unemployment insurance was little changed, while those collecting extended payments decreased.

CINCINNATI — Supermarket giant Kroger announced company EVP, Don Becker, died Wednesday after suffering an aneurysm. He was 62 years old.

Phoenix -- Private equity firm Apollo Management will acquire majority ownership in Phoenix-based Sprouts Farmers Market. Apollo plans to combine Sprouts operations with another of its holdings, Henry's Farmers Market, based in Irvine, Calif. The combined company will operate under the Sprouts Farmers Market name.

Terms of the deal, expected to close in the second quarter of this year, were not disclosed. The combined grocers will have 98 stores and generate annual sales that exceed $1 billion.

Dallas -- PeopleAnswers and Regis Corp. have announced a software licensing agreement for Regis to use PeopleAnswers as its new talent assessment software for selecting and hiring salon stylists and managers. The expected results are decreased turnover, increased customer visits and sales as well as lower operating costs.

El Segundo, Calif. -- Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has added four more GreenChill certified stores this year, including a Gold certified store opening Wednesday in Oceanside, Calif.

Fresh & Easy opened its first GreenChill certified store in September 2010, and now has a total of eight stores currently certified through the program -- the most of any grocer in the country. Only 45 of the nation’s more than 35,000 grocery stores have received GreenChill Store Certification awards.