News

New York — Chico’s FAS Inc. has partnered with Borderfree to expand its e-commerce capabilities globally. Through this partnership, Chico’s FAS will now be able to transact with shoppers in more than 100 countries and territories worldwide in more than 60 global currencies.

Dodgeville, Wis. — Net income at Lands’ End Inc. grew 5% to $11.8 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2014 from $11.3 million in the same period a year earlier. Net sales also increased 5%, to $347.2 million from $329.6 million.

Same-store sales improved 2.8%. Lands’ End attributed its positive performance to improved merchandise assortment, modern creative presentation, better inventory management and continued expense controls.

Jacksonville, Fla. — Near Field Communication (NFC) POS payment terminals from Pax Technology Inc. now support Apple Pay. Pax has a portfolio of products including countertop, mobile and multi-lane NFC-equipped terminals tested to work with Apple Pay.

Cincinnati – The Kroger Co. beat Wall Street expectations with strong net earnings and sales results for the second quarter of fiscal 2014. Net earnings rose 9% to $347 million from $317 million, while total sales increased 12% to $25.3 billion compared to $22.7 billion for the same period in the prior year.

Philadelphia – Five Below Inc.’s profit  more than doubled to $8.3 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2014, from $4.1 million in the same period last year. Its results beat expectations. The chain issued a third-quarter earnings estimate slightly below Wall Street views, while increasing its full-year sales and earnings guidance.

Revenue in the quarter increased 30% to $152.5 million. Same-store sales increased by 3.2%.

Fremont, Calif. – Non-deductible costs related to the purchase of Jos. A. Bank helped sharply reduce net earnings at The Men’s Wearhouse during the second quarter of fiscal 2014. The Men’s Wearhouse reported net earnings of $12.3 million, down 71% from $42.9 million the same period a year earlier, although the total still beat Wall Street projections.

Foothill Ranch, Calif. – Teen retailer The Wet Seal reported a new loss of $22 million for its second quarter, up from $1 million to $22 million in the year-ago period. Lower merchandise margins, higher occupancy costs, costs related to exiting its Arden B business, and non-cash asset impairment charges all helped increase Wet Seal’s net loss.

Net sales decreased 11.6% to $121.2 million, from $137.2 million. One bright spot was e-commerce, where sales rose 25%.

Indianapolis – Hhgregg Inc. has hired Robert J. Riesbeck as CFO, effective Sept. 15. Riesbeck brings more than 25 years of experience in financial and operations management, most recently serving as Operations Executive/Group CFO at Sun Capital Partners, where he was responsible for financial and operations oversight of a group of portfolio companies with combined revenues exceeding $5 billion.

Carle Place, N.Y. – 1-800-Flowers.com net income almost sextupled to $3.1 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, compared to $538,000 in the previous year period. Continued focus on leveraging its operating platform helped boost net income.

Corte Madera, Calif. – Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc. beat consensus analyst estimates by swinging from a net loss to profit in the second quarter of fiscal 2014, but had smaller-than-expected sales growth.

The upscale home furnishings retailer reported net income of $27.3 million, compared to net loss of $17.8 million during the same period a year earlier.