News

Nordstrom’s second quarter earnings were in line with its expectations. The results come two weeks after the company said it was acquiring Trunk Club, a men’s personalized clothing service, for $350 million.

Profit for the quarter remained flat compared to last year’s second quarter at $183 million. Net sales for the quarter were $3.3 billion, a 6.2% increase from $3.1 billion in the prior-year quarter. Comparable sales increased 3.3%.

Atlanta - Supply chain commerce solutions provider Manhattan Associates Inc. has acquired the assets of POS and clienteling applications provider GlobalBay Technologies from VeriFone. The acquisition extends Manhattan’s omnichannel inventory and order management solutions by enabling in-store sales and clienteling capabilities.

VeriFone’s GlobalBay Merchant solution, targeted to small retailers, will be retained by VeriFone and rebranded in the coming months. Financial terms of the transaction will not be disclosed.

Etna, Ohio -- Ascena Retail Group Inc. has opened its new 880,000-sq.-ft. shared services office complex and national distribution center in Pataskala, Ohio.
 

Pittsburgh -- GNC Holdings, Inc.’s board of directors has authorized a multi-year program to repurchase up to an aggregate $500 million of the company's Class A common stock. The authorization is effective immediately and replaces GNC’s previous authorization, which had approximately $250 million remaining.  

The repurchases are expected to take place over the next 24 months.

Ralph Crabtree, CTO of Brickstream

New York – Although Macy’s Inc. reported a 4% increase in net income to $292 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2014, from $281 million in the same period a year earlier, the company still missed Wall Street expectations. Leftover merchandise from a sluggish first quarter helped keep Macy’s profit growth down.

Mississauga, Canada -- Target Canada is launching several initiatives to improve business performance and better deliver the Target brand experience to Canadian customers. Among the initiatives are a partnership with interior designer and TV host Sarah Richardson, who will launch an exclusive home décor line at Target Canada in fall 2015.

Downers Grove, Ill. – Net income dropped 14.5% at FTD Inc. to $4.7 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2014 from $5.5 million in the same period the prior year. Costs related to FTD’s planned purchase of Provide Commerce were primarily responsible for the decline in net income.

Montreal – Canadian grocery retailer Metro Inc. reported medium results for its third quarter fiscal 2014. Net earnings for third quarter 2014 were $144.5 million, an increase of 0.1% from net earnings of $144.4 million for the same quarter of 2013.

Research Triangle Park, N.C. – Nine-in-10 retailers report selling on online marketplaces, and 64% use digital marketing. Results of a survey of more than 200 U.S. and U.K. online retailers from e-commerce provider Channel Advisor also indicated the following: