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Photo by Ola Wilk/Wilk Marketing Communications

Liebeskind Berlin, a trendy leather accessories and fashion brand from Germany, has opened a second location in the United States.  

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Specialty retailer Five Below Inc. beat Wall Street projections for earnings and same-store sales in a hot first quarter of fiscal 2016.

Net income was $6.8 million, up 58% from $4.3 million the same quarter a year earlier. Higher gross profit and lower expenses boosted profit. Net sales rose 25% to $192.7 million, from $153.7 million. And the company reported same-store sales growth of 4.9%.

With a couple of exceptions, May same-store sales figures reported by several major apparel, specialty and discount chains were less than impressive.

First the good news. Bath & Body Works reported a 3% same-store sales lift for May 2016 compared to the same month a year earlier. Same-store sales at Costco Wholesale Corp. and L Brands were flat, which may not sound that encouraging but was better than most other retailers reporting figures for the month.

Here is a roundup of other chains reporting negative same-store sales growth for the month.

Staples is bringing the mobile and in-store shopping experiences a little closer together.

The office products giant is releasing a new interactive store map feature on its iPhone app. Currently, the offering is being piloted at 83 select stores across New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and the Seattle area.

By removing manual effort from the checkout and cash management processes in stores, Sunbury, Pennsylvania-based supermarket chain Weis Markets Inc. is making shopping easier.

Weis Markets has signed an agreement with Balance Innovations to provide its vbScout self-checkout management solution in all stores offering self-checkout, as well as VeriBalance currency management software and vbInSight corporate reporting software in all 162 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, New Jersey and West Virginia.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) has asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to conduct an investigation into an organization founded by the credit card industry that sets data security standards.

According to a letter from NRF senior VP and general counsel Mallory Duncan to FTC chairwoman Edith Ramirez, the practices of the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI DSS) raise antitrust concerns.

Several factors conspired to produce a drop in net income at Village Super Market Inc. during the third quarter of fiscal 2016, despite a slight bump in sales.

Net income was $5.88 million in the quarter, down 55% from $13.21 million in the third quarter of the previous fiscal year. The prior year period including a net gain from the recovery of insurance receivables related to Superstorm Sandy and a tax benefit a result of a settlement with the New Jersey Division of Taxation.

Synchrony Financial will continue to offer consumer financing to Pandora Jewelry customers.

The two companies have announced a multi-year extension of their consumer financing program agreement. The program, which began in 2011, will continue to provide Pandora shoppers with access to a range of payment options through the Pandora Preferred card program. Special financing will be available at select concept stores nationwide.

The search capability on Amazon.com reportedly malfunctioned for several hours the morning of Thursday, June 2.

According to TechCrunch, an outage prevented users from being able to search for products or open product categories on the Amazon.com homepage. The homepage itself and product pages were not affected by the service interruption, which appeared to be resolved as of 10 a.m. EDT.