News

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings Co. on Thursday reported its 11th consecutive quarterly loss, posting a loss of $159 million for the fourth quarter, down from loss of $358 in the year-ago period, amid cost reductions.

The struggling chain saw its losses for the full year widen to $1.7 billion from $1.4 billion, marking its fourth straight year of decline. Total long-term debt rose to $3.2 billion from $2.9 billion a year earlier.

By John Orr, Ceridian

With the Affordable Care Act, employers’ new reality is here, right now — and contrasts starkly with the past: Retailers that run payroll, time and attendance, scheduling, and benefits administration the way they used to will probably run afoul of the Employer Mandate, also known as “Play or Pay.”

Mountain View, Calif. – Apple Pay may have some new competition this spring. Google is reportedly planning to release an Android-based digital payment API known as Android Pay at its Google I/O conference in May 2015.

According to Ars Technica, Android Pay would integrate into retailers’ mobile apps but could also be used at physical checkout stations. Similar to Apple Pay, consumers would upload credit or debit card information to Android Pay and pay by tap.

Walmart is all about leveraging its scale to drive performance, but the application of that mindset can play out in many different ways, as Kathleen McLaughlin, president of the Walmart Foundation, will explain on March 3.

St. Petersburg, Fla. – HSN Inc. had a successful fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, beating Wall Street estimates for both net income and sales. Net income rose 11% to $68.3 million from $61.6 million, while net sales grew 10% to $1.12 billion from $1.1 billion.

Digital grew 12%, reaching a milestone of representing more than half HSN’s business. Mobile remains the company’s fastest-growing platform with growth of 40% in the quarter.

A week after announcing that it would boost wages for its employees, Walmart is stepping up again in a big way with a commitment to close the skills gap of entry level workers.

The Walmart Foundation is making an initial investment of $16 million to seven national nonprofits as part of the Opportunity initiative, a $100 million commitment to help increase the economic mobility of entry level workers in retail and adjacent sectors.

Ann Arbor, Mich. – Pizza retailer Domino’s, which recently shortened its name from “Domino’s Pizza,” is reportedly turning to social media to promote the name change and also locate out-of-date signs. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Domino’s is encouraging consumers to upload photos of signs with the old Domino’s Pizza logo and name to Instagram using the hashtags #LogoInformants and #Sweeps.

The CEO of Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. credits consumers’ increasingly strong “desire to eat healthier” with his company’s big sales surge in the fourth quarter.

The Arizona-based company posted sales of $734.6 million, an increase of 21%, for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 28. Same store sales were up 8.5%.