News

Vancouver, Canada -- PayWith Inc. has launched a new smartphone app called the mCard that simply and securely enables in-store transactions with mobile devices. PayWith has signed a North American license agreement with a global payment network that allows PayWith to provide merchants and consumers with a secure and convenient smartphone-based payment, loyalty rewards, and commission sales solution.

Cincinnati -- The Kroger Co. said Thursday that it will buy back up to $1 billion of its shares. The repurchase program replaces its existing plan, which had roughly $2 million remaining.

Kroger also declared a regular quarterly dividend of 16.5 cents per share, payable June 1 to shareholders of record May 15.
During the last four quarters, Kroger has used its strong free cash flow to return more than $928 million to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends.  

San Francisco -- Williams-Sonoma reported a better-than-expected profit of $133.8 million in the fourth quarter, up slightly from $133.7 million in the year-ago period. The company also announced it is lifting its dividend 2 cents, or 6%, to 33 cents a share.

Not many retailers can say they were very pleased with exceptional results during a compressed holiday season and challenging fourth quarter, but Steinmart did.

Same-store sales increased 3.1% for the fourth quarter ended Feb. 1, while total sales for the 13-week period declined to $360.8 million from $368.6 million because the fourth quarter the prior year included an extra week, which added sales of $15.8 million to the prior-year period.

Finance executives who participated in professional services firm BDO’s annual CFO survey expect 8.2% growth in online sales this year and not surprisingly plan to increase investments in mobile capabilities.

Mobile and online sales will continue to drive growth for retailers in 2014, the firm said. However, now that e-commerce has firmly taken root in the retail industry, growth is beginning to stabilize. As a result, about 64% of CFOs said online sales will grow in the coming year, a figure below the 74% who expressed that sentiment the prior year.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. reportedly had early notice of the holiday data breach that exposed the personal and financial information of millions of customers but did not act upon it. According to Bloomberg, a $1.6 million security application called FireEye notified Target of a possible intrusion in to its network, but the retailer failed to respond.

Genesco chairman, president and CEO Robert J. Dennis said that the company’s overall fourth-quarter results were lower than expected, thanks to inconsistent sales patterns and severe winter storms that affected its key markets.

All is not grim, however, as the company is making investments to bolster its omnichannel capabilities, which Dennis expects will protect near-term profitability and allow the company to expand its retail footprint.