News

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- Dollar General Corp. on Monday lifted its earnings outlook for the year as fiscal third-quarter profit jumped 69% on continued growth in sales and margins.

The company reported earnings of $128.1 million in the latest quarter, compared with $75.6 million a year earlier. Net sales for the quarter ended Oct. 29 rose 10% to $3.22 billion and same-store sales increased 4.2%.

Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether to certify the largest class-action employment discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history, a long-standing dispute involving Wal-Mart Stores and alleged gender bias in pay and promotions.

Chain Store Age will present a Webinar on Tuesday, Dec. 7, at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT) that spotlights one the retail industry’s hottest topics: mobile technology. Sponsored by Junction Solutions, “The Impact of Mobile Technology on Retail Store Operations: The Road Map for Mobile Retail Success,” will examine how retailers can use mobile to enhance their shopping and customer experience while improving internal business processes.

Click here to register for the webcast

New York City -- Build-A-Bear is looking for a buyer and has approached private-equity firms, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg reported.

Barclays Capital is advising the company, the report said. The St. Louis-based chain, founded by Maxine Clark, opened its first store in 1997.

Palo Alto, Calif. -- HP Enterprise Services Monday announced Tops Friendly Markets, the New York-based supermarket chain with stores in New York and Pennsylvania, has signed a seven-year applications and infrastructure technology services contract valued in excess of $80 million that gives the retailer flexibility to transform its business processes to drive growth.

By David King, fulcrm.com

For many retailers, the “best customer” search has been an ineffective venture where the results haven’t warranted the time or expense, despite a host of different efforts. But this tantalizing target keeps pulling dollars out of budgets, dollars that could be spent on creating a more realistic and profitable approach to customers -- one that considers customers’ shifting behaviors and value.