News

Total U.S. Shopper Traffic in Retail Stores and Malls for February 2013

An unexpected decrease in shopper traffic around Valentine’s Day and Presidents Day led to an overall slower retail performance for the month of February.

Retail foot traffic for February decreased 5.4% compared with January 2013, departing from the positive year-over-year retail traffic trends seen in recent months. Foot traffic for February 2013 decreased 6.4% compared with the same month last year. 

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe’s has named José Luis Pier Castelló as president/general director of Lowe’s Mexico, effective March 15. He replaces Francisco Fernandez, who has left the company. Pier Castelló will report to William Robinson, head of international operations and development.

AMSTERDAM — Rene Dahan will step down as Royal Ahold's board chairman in October, the Dutch supermarket operator said Wednesday.

Netherlands-based Ahold — which operates the Stop & Shop, Giant-Landover and Giant-Carlisle chains and the Peapod online grocery service in the United States through its Ahold USA subsidiary — said that Dahan would step down after serving on the company's board since 2004. The company plans to propose at its shareholder meeting the appointment of Jan Hommen as Dahan's successor.

DOVER, N.H. — Zander Livingston, CEO of Truecount Corp, an RFID software provider, announced that Truecount is introducing a new Software as a Service (SaaS) pricing and deployment model that places inventory visibility and all other RFID benefits within the reach of any size retailer. 

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Big Lots reported income from continuing operations of $120.3 million, or $2.09 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, meeting the company's expectations for net income to be in the range of $1.91 to $2.10 per diluted share.

Net sales for U.S. operations for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 increased 4.4% to $1.8 billion, compared to $1.6 billion for the same period of fiscal 2011. Comparable-store sales for U.S. stores decreased 3.5% for the quarter. 

Columbus, Ohio -- Big Lots reported Wednesday that net income for the fourth quarter rose to $120.3 million, from $114.7 million in the year-ago period. Sales in the U.S. increased 4.4% to $1.7 billion from $1.6 billion, and domestic same-store sales dipped 3.5%.

For the full year, income from continuing operations dropped to $177.2 million, from $207.2 million in the prior fiscal year. This year’s results included $3.4 million in charges related to new inventory system implementation.

NEW YORK — The board of directors of the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA) has selected Bernard Leifer, president and CEO of The SG Companies, for induction into the LIMA Licensing Industry Hall of Fame.  

The induction will take place at the annual LIMA Awards Ceremony on June 18, 2013 during the industry’s main event, Licensing Expo 2013, in Las Vegas.

Salt Lake City -- Overstock.com said Wednesday it has opened a distribution and returns facility in Hebron, Ky., outside Cincinnati.

The facility, the company’s second, will receive product returns and handle outbound shipments.  Overstock.com officials say this additional distribution facility will reduce the time for resolution and refunds for customer returns.  

The company’s primary warehouse will remain in Salt Lake City.