News

New York -- Aeropostale reported Friday that net income for the second quarter was $100,000, compared with $2.9 million last year.

Sales increased 4% to $485.3 million, from $468.2 million in the year-ago period. Same-store sales, including the e-commerce channel, were essentially flat, compared with a 12% decrease last year. Excluding e-commerce, same-store sales dipped 1%, compared with a 14% decrease last year.

The company has lowered its third-quarter guidance.
 

Merchant Customer Exchange is the name of a new mobile payments group in which Walmart and other leading retailers are involved.

Expectations are high that mobile payments represent the future of commerce and group of leading retailers this week formed a new organization to offer an alternative way to pay.

The group is called the Merchant Customer Exchange and currently consists of 14 retailers. Plans call for development of a payment application available for smartphones that offers secure technology to process transaction.

New York -- Foot Locker reported Friday that net income for the quarter ended July 28 rose to $59 million, from $37 million last year.

Sales increased 7.2% to $1.37 billion this year, compared with $1.27 billion in the prior year. Same-store sales increased nearly 10%.
 

Same-stores sales increased 4.2%, total sales increased 4.6% to $12.5 billion and operating profits advanced 10.1% to $536 million.

Impressive is how Sam’s Club president and CEO Rosalind Brewer characterized the warehouse club operator’s performance during the second quarter.

Nashville, Tenn. -- Kirkland reported Friday a loss of $2 million in the second quarter, widened from a loss of $480,000 in the year-ago period. Revenue edged up 1% to $91 million, missing Wall Street’s expected $94.4 million in revenue.

Same-store sales declined 3.6%.

The retailer has cut its earnings and revenue outlooks for the year.

NEW YORK — Equinox, an operator of full-service fitness clubs, announced that Sarah Robb O'Hagan, who currently serves as president of Gatorade and global sports nutrition at PepsiCo, will join the company as its first president. Robb O'Hagan will lead an aggressive domestic expansion strategy to maximize the continued success of the growing company, including its family of brands: Equinox, Pure Yoga, Blink, and SoulCycle. She will report to Equinox CEO Harvey Spevak.

PURCHASE, N.Y. — The president of PepsiCo's Western Europe business has been given a new role.

Sam’s Club is temporarily suspending is membership fee this weekend to engage in Texas’ tax-free holiday and promote new member sign ups.

The tax-free holiday for back-to-school products begins today and runs through Sunday. Texas is home to 74 of Sam’s 613 U.S. clubs, and during the same three-day period Sam’s will allow non-members to shop its clubs.