News

NEW YORK — Saks reported that sales for the fourth quarter were up 5.6% over the same period last year. Same-store sales were up 0.7% for the period.

For the fourth quarter Saks recorded net income of $20.4 million, or 13 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $37 million, or 21 cents per diluted share for the same period last year.

Plano, Texas -- There were no signs of relief for J.C. Penney Co. in the fourth quarter as the company reported a wider-than-expected net loss of $552 million, compared with a loss of $87 million in the year-ago period. The chain did not issue guidance, but did announce would open nearly 20 home-centered shops with different brand partners in 550 stores the spring.

A 1.8% decline in second quarter same store sales at AutoZone was attributed to a two week tax return processing delay by the Internal Revenue Service.

The delay kept tax refunds out of the hand of AutoZone customers inclined to perform maintenance on their vehicles during the retailer’s second quarter ended February 9. Last week, Walmart also cited the tax processing delay as a source of sale weakness when it reported a 1% comp increase that was at the low end of its forecast range for a 1% to 3% increase.

ROSEVILLE, Calif. — Revionics, aprovider of end-to-end merchandise optimization solutions, has appointed Jeff Edwards as SVP and managing director of Asia Pacific. Edwards has been successfully serving as Revionics’ SVP sales and account management for the company’s North American efforts. In his new role, Edwards will be responsible for strategic sales and business development efforts across the entire Asia Pacific region.

Chicago -- The retail industry is poised for another year of heavy deal flow. Nearly all retail CFOs (94%) expect merger and acquisition will increase or remain steady in 2013, according to a new survey from BDO USA.

The bullish forecasts follow $324.6 billion in global retail and consumer M&A activity in 2012, which was up 33% over 2011 and the busiest year since 2007, according to Dealogic. A majority of CFOs (68%) expect the U.S. markets to see a majority of deal volume, followed by the Asia-Pacific market (20%) and Latin America market (7%).

Fort Worth, Texas -- RadioShack Corp. reported a greater-than-expected net loss of $63.3 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of $11.9 million a year earlier.

Total sales edged down to $1.3 billion compared to $1.39 billion last year. Comparable-store sales fell 7%, hurt by a decline in the performance of its postpaid wireless business.
 

Same day delivery firm Shutl will begin offering its service next month in New York, San Francisco and Chicago.

Thanks to $6 million in funding from partners such as UPS, e.ventures and Notion Capital, plans call for the firm to expand the delivery offering to 17 additional metropolitan areas later this year with the goal of enabling conventional brick and mortar retailers to realize their multichannel potential.

PROVO, Utah — Target strengthened its sustainability rep recently with the addition of EcoScraps, a provider of organic, chemical- and manure-free lawn and garden products, to its lineup. The sustainable, 100% organic, potting soil is now available at more than 1,700 Target stores nationwide. This marks the first time that EcoScraps will appear on the shelves of a major retailer at the national level.