News

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Tuesday voted to repeal a law that posed a burdensome tax reporting requirement for businesses.

In an 87-12 decision, the legislative body passed H.R. 4, the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act, sponsored by Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif. The bill repeals a provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 that required businesses to file a Form 1099 with the Internal Revenue Service whenever they made noncredit-card payments totaling $600 or more to a vendor during a single year.

Purchase, N.Y. -- Most retail segments showed solid year-over-year retail growth in March, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, a macroeconomic report tracking national retail and services sales.

Electronics sales and department stores showed modest gains while luxury and e-commerce recorded strong growth. Some segments of the restaurant sector also showed strength in March.

Chicago -- Convenience store in-store sales grew 4.4% in 2010, reaching a record $190.4 billion, according to NACS. Total convenience store sales in 2010 were $575.6 billion.

The industry's 2010 numbers were announced in Chicago at the annual NACS State of the Industry Summit. The number of U.S. c-stores grew 1.2% over the past year and stands at a record 146,341 stores, according to the NACS/Nielsen TDLinx 2011 Convenience Industry Store Count, released in January 2011.

CHICAGO ─ Faced with rising food costs, U.S. consumers are turning to the cost savings tactics they’ve mastered over the past few years, according to The NPD Group.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Tuesday reported March sales of $6.3 billion, an increase of 7.6%. Duane Reade stores, acquired in April 2010, contributed 280 basis points to the total sales increase for the month.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. -- Kohl’s Department Stores said Tuesday it has completed the transfer of its private-label credit-card portfolio to Capital One Financial Corp., effective April 1.

Capital One has acquired the more than 20 million existing Kohl’s Charge accounts and through the seven-year agreement will offer private-label credit cards to new and existing Kohl’s customers. According to the department store retailer, the credit-card business accounted for more than 50% of Kohl’s sales in 2010.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- DSW Inc. has announced the appointment of Roger Rawlins to SVP and GM DSW.com, and Jennie Wilson as SVP finance and controller.

Arlington, Va. -- The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and CargoNet jointly announced that they have strategically aligned to combat cargo theft across the retail industry.

According to the 2010 United States Cargo Theft Report issued by CargoNet, reported incidences of cargo theft increased by 50% compared with 2009. According to the FBI, cargo theft is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States.