News

Amazon.com is planning to open a fifth fulfillment center in the state of Texas.

In Texas, Amazon currently employs more than 3,500 full-time associates, has invested more than $400 million in the state and continues to grow its operations to meet customer demand. Amazon’s other Lone Star State fulfillment centers are located in Schertz, Coppell, and Haslet, with a fourth facility under construction in Dallas.

Seattle – Texas is known for its wide open spaces, and Amazon.com Inc. is slowly filling them in with distribution centers. Amazon plans to open a fifth Texas fulfillment center in San Marcos.

Amazon employees at the 855,000 sq.-ft. San Marcos fulfillment center will pick, pack, and ship smaller customer items, such as books, electronics and toys.

Hibbett Sports Inc. says a shift in back-to-school tax-free weekends was to blame for softness in same store sales in the second quarter.

The sporting goods retailer says net sales for the 13-week period ended Aug. 1 increased 2.8% to $199.3 million compared with $193.9 million for the 13-week period ended Aug. 2, 2014. Same store sales decreased 1.1%. Net income was $7 million compared with $8.4 million for the 13-week period ended Aug. 2, 2014. Earnings per diluted share totaled 28 cents, compared with 32 cents for the 13-week period ended Aug. 2, 2014.

Morrisville, N.C. — Jewelry retailer Charles & Covard Ltd. has appointed Jaqui Lividini and Suzanne Miglucci to serve on the company’s board of directors. Lividini previously served as senior VP fashion merchandising & communications at Saks Fifth Avenue and has served as CEO and founding partner of brand strategy company Lividini & Co. since 2005.

Miglucci previously served as senior director of global procurement solution marketing for SAP and has served as chief marketing officer of ChannelAdvisor Corp. since June 2012.

On the heels of another successful quarter from off-price rival TJX, Ross Stores Inc. also reported a spike in same store sales for the second quarter.

For the second quarter ended Aug. 1, Ross Stores says net earnings rose 8% to $259 million from $240 million the same quarter the prior fiscal year. Sales rose 9% to $2.97 billion from $2.73 billion, with same-store sales up 4%

New York — New York & Company Inc. maintained an essentially flat net loss in the third quarter of fiscal 2015, even as other financial metrics improved. The retailer reported net loss of $146 million, compared to $147 million the same period the previous fiscal year.

Increased selling, general and administrative expenses, including charges related to headcount reductions, consulting fees and legal and moving expenses that were part of an ongoing business re-engineering project, helped keep New York & Company in the red.

With another difficult fiscal quarter under its belt, the CEO of Gap Inc. says the retailer will begin testing fast fashion merchandise in select stores.

Bentonville, Ark. — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is rearranging how responsibilities are handled by its merchandising executives. According to the Wall Street Journal, an internal company memo indicates that among the changes is a promotion to chief merchandising and marketing officer for Wal-Mart China for Marybeth Hays, currently serving as senior VP of home for Wal-Mart U.S.

Hays will replace John Furner in that role. Furner will return to the U.S. in an unspecified position.