News

Fort Worth, Texas -- Pier 1 Imports reported Thursday that profit for the quarter ended Nov. 27 dropped 45.9% to $21 million, compared with $38.8 million a year earlier.

The decrease was due mostly to a $55.9 million income tax benefit a year ago, but the results still beat Wall Street expectations.

Revenue rose 8.2% to $353.8 million from $327.1 million, surpassing Wall Street's estimate of $352.8 million. The improvements were the result of increases in store traffic, conversion rate and average ticket.

No matter what the politicians in Washington are saying, the United States is married to China. And, this relationship has been nearly 40 years in the making. Ever since Nixon visited China, the United States has become more and more reliant upon low-cost Chinese goods. Indeed, according to The United States Trade Representative, the United States imported nearly $300 billion worth of goods from China in 2009 alone. To the extent an economic recovery in the United States depends on consumers spending at retail, the ability of U.S.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. - As its latest Facebook campaign for hunger relief draws to a close, Walmart is encouraging last-minute "likes" that will help determine which of 100 U.S. cities will receive $1.5 million in grants. The "Fighting Hunger Together" Facebook campaign will end at 12 a.m. on Jan. 1 and is part of the company's $2 billion commitment to help fight hunger through 2015.

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Office Depot announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell its Office Depot Japan business to Kakuyasu. The transaction also includes an agreement for Kakuyasu to license Office Depot’s trade names, obtain sourcing services and continue to support Office Depot’s global customers in Japan. Kakuyasu is one of the fastest growing and leading multi-channel businesses in Japan with FY 2009 sales of $775 million.

Office Depot Japan was established in 1996 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Office Depot Inc. 

This time of the year invariably brings with it a flurry of “Best of” and “Top 10” lists. In the spirit of the season, here are the top stores of the year from New York City’s reigning retail maven, Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman's Retail Leasing, Marketing & Sales Division. Consolo may be a fashionista, but she is no retail snob. Her picks run the gamut from luxe locations to value players to “statement” stores. Here’s the rundown (with her comments):

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Stater Bros. on Wednesday disclosed a more than 4% decrease in sales for fiscal year 2010.

The California supermarket chain said sales for the fiscal year ended Sept. 26 were $3.61 billion, down from $3.77 billion in fiscal year 2009. Sales for the fourth quarter also experience a decline, dropping to $897.4 million, or 3.15%, since the year-ago period.

New York City -- A report released Wednesday by American Express Business Insights found that the more recent increases in luxury retail spending is tightening in the waning days of 2010.

The word competition gets tossed around a lot in the retail industry as operators talk about market positioning -- who they do and don’t compete with. Oftentimes, companies will refer to direct competitors, but one thing about Walmart is that it has always tended to take the broad view of competition in that any company, no matter how small, who sold anything offered at Walmart was viewed as a competitor.