News

Despite a softer sales environment, Foot Locker reported strong fourth quarter earnings — surpassing analyst estimates.   For the fourth quarter ended January 28, 2017, the specialty athletic retailer’s profits hit $189 million, or $1.42 per share, compared with net income of $158 million, or $1.14 per share in the same period of 2015. This exceeded analyst estimates of $1.31 per share.  

Retailers are increasingly relying on mobility for customer engagement, however their marketing strategies are lagging.    The fourth quarter 2016 marked the first time mobile engagement has trended down as the mobile click-to-open (CTO) rate declined by 12.6% quarter-over-quarter, and 14.4% year-over-year, according “Q4 2016 Email Benchmark Report: The Mobile Engagement Shift,” from Yes Lifecycle Marketing.  

Raley’s has given COO Keith Knopf the additional title of president.   Raleys owner & CEO, Michael Teel announced the promotion of Knopf, who joined the company nearly two years ago, around the time Teel took majority ownership of the company. Teel will continue to direct the development of Raley’s overall strategic plan.  

J.C. Penney on Friday announced plans to close stores and reduce its workforce even as it reported its first profit since 2010.    In one of its deepest cuts to date, the retailer said it will close 130 to 140 stores, which represent about 13% to 14% of its total, 1,014 store base. The locations to be shuttered are unprofitable, Penney said, and generated less than 5% of total annual sales.     

While RH continued to make investments to transform its business model, these efforts impacted the company’s preliminary fourth quarter earnings.   The furniture and housewares company, which officially changed its name from Restoration Hardware to RH last month, posted net income of $8.75 million, or 21 cents per share, for the quarter ended January 28, 2017. This was a drop from $33.3 million in fourth quarter 2015. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 68 cents per share, beating analyst estimates of 65 cents per share.

Pacific Sunwear is one step closer to more secure in-store payments.   PacSun is working with BTM Global to implement and integrate EMV (Europay, Mastercard, Visa) software that will support the global stand-ard for credit card and debit card payments. The implementation will roll out across more than 494 stores in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, a move that will strengthen payment security and protect its customers’ data.    

Wayfair credits innovation, increasing brand awareness and repeat customers for its strong fourth quarter growth.   The home decor brand’s total net revenue for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2016, rose 33.1% from last year to $984.6 million, topping analysts’ expectations for $975.32 million. The company’s gross profit was $238.6 million, or 24.2% of total net revenue.  

Weaker results in its European, Saks Off 5th and Gilt operations contributed to lower fourth quarter sales for Hudson’s Bay Company   For the fourth quarter ended January 28, 2017, the company’s consolidated comparable sales decreased 1.2%. Specifically, DSG (Hudson’s Bay, Lord & Taylor and Home Outfitters) same-store sales increased 0.6%, and Saks Fifth Avenue comparable sales increased 0.1%.