News

New York -- Aeropostale reported Thursday that profit for the third quarter rose to $24.9 million, from $24.1 million last year.
 
Sales increased 2% to $605.9 million, beating Wall Street’s expected $601.2 million. Same-store sales dipped 2%.

New York -- Barnes & Noble reported Thursday net income of $2.2 million for the quarter ended Oct. 27, compared with a loss of $6.6 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue was nearly flat at $1.88 billion, missing Wall Street’s expected $1.91 billion in revenue.

New York -- Many retailers blamed Hurricane Sandy for weak sales in November, although some companies were buoyed later in the month by a long Thanksgiving weekend.

Eighteen retailers reported that sales in November through last Saturday were up 1.7% compared with the year-ago period, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. That is below the anticipated forecast for a 4.5% to 5.5% gain.

New York -- Discounters, which are expected to fare well this holiday season, showed mixed results in November. TJX Cos. reported Thursday that November same-store sales climbed 3%, missing Wall Street’s expected 3.6% rise but beating the retailer’s internal expectations.

Target Corp. saw same-store sales fall in November, hurt by weak sales during the first two weeks. Comps dipped 1%, while Wall Street expected a 2.1% gain. Revenue for the month was essentially flat.

New York -- Blaming superstorm Sandy for its disappointing November results, Macy’s reported a 0.7% dip in same-store sales and missed Wall Street’s expected 1.5% rise. The results were echoed by much of the category.

"Despite the largest-volume Thanksgiving weekend in our company's history, we were not able to overcome the weak start to the month, which included the disruption of Hurricane Sandy," said Terry J. Lundgren, chairman, president and CEO of Macy’s. Total sales for the month slipped 0.6% to $2.45 billion.

New York -- Retailers that opened early on Thanksgiving evening gained an advantage and that promotional activity was about on par with last year, according to a new Moody’s report, “Thanksgiving Weekend: The Early Bird Gets the Worm.”

Atlanta -- Year-over-year retail dollar volume growth on Thanksgiving and Black Friday was healthy at 5.6% as many retailers started the holiday shopping season earlier this year and consumers welcomed the opportunity to find bargains, according to a study by First Data Corp.’s First Data SpendTrend analysis for Black Friday 2012 compared with Black Friday 2011. (SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations.)

The Canadian division of Toys "R" Us has added new distribution capacity in British Columbia to receive imports and improve shipping to local stores.

The 180,000-sq.-ft. facility, located in the Vancouver suburb of Delta, is the retailer’s third Canadian distribution center. It is strategically positioned to receive goods from overseas and domestic manufacturers who can now ship directly to British Columbia for distribution to local Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us stores.

Specialty retailer Express said its same store sales for the third quarter ended October 27, declined 5% and profits declined to $17.4 million, or 20 cents a share, compared to $32.7 million, or 37 cents a share.

Total sales for the period declined 4% to $468.5 million and gross margins contracted to 32.3% of sales from 36.2% of sales the prior year. Expenses increased to 25.1% of sales form 23.6% of sales.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Electrolux will relocate its North American laundry products research and development center to Charlotte, N.C., from Webster City, Iowa.

The move signals the company’s commitment to further product innovation in its fabric care business and builds on the design, testing and marketing capabilities that already exist in its Charlotte-based North American headquarters.