News

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Winn-Dixie on Wednesday announced it has joined forces with Feeding America to launch the Give a Meal program, which gives Winn-Dixie guests and team members the opportunity to help provide food to nearly 37 million Americans — including more than 14 million children — facing hunger this holiday season. Give a Meal runs through Jan. 3 and is available in all of Winn-Dixie’s 482 stores in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Ross Stores Inc. reported Thursday its third straight quarter of profits, as net income rose 18.6% to $144 million, from $121.4 million a year earlier. Results met Wall Street expectations.

“Operating our business on lower in-store inventories is driving faster turns and lower markdowns, which continues to benefit profit margins,” noted Michael Balmuth, CEO.

Revenue rose 9.2% to $2.05 billion, beating analysts’ predicted $2.03 billion in revenue.

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. — Kohl’s Department Stores announced that the company has been recognized with its third Green Power Partner of the Year Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Energy and the Center for Resource Solutions. With this year’s award, Kohl’s is the first retailer to be named a Green Power Partner of the Year for three consecutive years, the company reported.

New York City – E-commerce sales in the U.S. for the November and December holiday shopping season will rise 16.8% to $46.7 billion in 2011, up from $39.9 billion last year and representing a pace five times faster than total retail industry growth, according to eMarketer.

That means online sales growth will reach double digits for the third consecutive year, even though the economy remains shaky and consumers are keeping tight budgets.

WASHINGTON — Up to 152 million people plan to shop Black Friday Weekend, compared with the 138 million who planned to do so last year, according to a preliminary Black Friday shopping survey, conducted for the National Retail Federation by BIGresearch. According to the survey, 74 million people say they will definitely hit the stores and another 77 million are waiting to see if the bargains are worth the hassle of Black Friday.

Phoenix -- PetSmart Inc. reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended Oct. 30 rose 22% to $56.2 million, from $45.6 million a year earlier.

Revenue rose nearly 8% to $1.5 billion from $1.4 billion, just beating Wall Street’s expected $1.49 billion in revenue. Same-store sales increased 6.1%. 
 

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Limited Brands reported that adjusted earnings per share for the third quarter ended Oct. 29 increased 39% to 25 cents compared with earnings per share of 18 cents for the quarter ended Oct. 30, 2010, which exclude an income tax benefit in 2011 of $16.7 million, or 6 cents per share. Third quarter operating income was $186.1 million compared with operating income of $149.1 million last year, and adjusted net income was $77.6 million compared to net income of $61.3 million last year.

HUDSON, Ohio — While many retailers are boasting about opening on Thanksgiving Day night to give shoppers an early start on the Black Friday weekend, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores is going in a different direction and will stay closed for the holiday.