News

By Bruce Jones, Disney Institute

New York -- Consumer confidence fell in January to a one-year low, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index released Friday.

The month’s preliminary index fell to 71.3, the lowest since December 2011, from 72.9 in December. Economists had forecast the index would rise to 75, Bloomberg News reported.

New York -- Family Dollar on Friday increased its annual dividend by 24%. The annual payout now totals $1.04 following a decision by the retailer’s board to elevate the quarterly dividend to 26 cents a share from 21 cents a share.

In addition, the board authorized the repurchase of an additional $300 million in stock under an existing program that had only $94 million in authorization remaining.

Target has debuted six brands that will be available exclusively online.
 

PHILADELPHIA — Five Below has proposed a secondary offering of 7,000,000 shares of its common stock, amid reports that sales are not as bad as originally feared.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — OfficeMax is joining forces with Go Daddy, a leading Web hosting and domain name provider.

OfficeMax's exclusive bundles of Go Daddy website services will allow businesses to register their domain names, create professional websites and maximize their business visibility on Internet search engines. There are no monthly service fees. One-year service bundles range from simple domain and website authentication to hosting an online store.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Staples has launched the Staples App Center, an online marketplace for cloud-based business applications.

The App Center will allow small businesses to purchase and manage their apps all in one place. The center boasts a selection of business apps, an administrative console and one consolidated bill.

RACINE, Wis. — SC Johnson is marking its 90th anniversary of donating to the local United Way.

For nearly a century, the family-owned company known for brands such as Glade, Pledge and Scrubbing Bubbles has donated more than $50 million in cumulative contributions to the local nonprofit organization.

Walmart U.S. president and CEO Bill Simon isn’t running for elected office, but he sure sounded like a politician earlier this week as he laid out a three-tiered plan the retail industry can implement to restore U.S. economic growth.

CANTON, Mass. — Global fitness brand Reebok has entered into a multi-year partnership with Spartan Race that will see Reebok as the title sponsor of the global race series.

Reebok’s titular sponsorship begins with the first race of the season at Vail Lake Resort in Temecula, Calif., on January 26 and 27.