News

Dollar General donates millions toward literacy
Dollar General is making a difference in the lives of its customers and their communities with another massive donation to literacy programs.

The retailer’s Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded more than $5.8 million in grants to support adult, family and summer literacy programs to approximately 720 schools, nonprofits and literacy organizations across the 43 states Dollar General serves.
PayPal to trade on Nasdaq after eBay split
San Jose, Calif. – In one more sign the long-discussed eBay-PayPal split is really on its way, PayPal has announced it will trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the symbol “PYPL” once it is spun off from parent company eBay. PayPal was initially founded as an independent company in 1998 and joined eBay in 2002.

PayPal intends to become a platform for a world in which all commerce is performed digitally.

IBM: Mother’s Day drives online shopping spike

New York -- Mother’s Day is turning into a goldmine for online retailers. Overall U.S. retail online sales for the week leading up to Mother's Day rose more than 15% compared to the same period last year, according to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark. Mobile traffic accounted for 46.3% all online traffic, up more than 21% compared to last year. Mobile sales saw strong growth, up more than 43%, reaching over 24.4% of all online sales.
Simon Property to invest $1B in key malls

Simon Property Group will expand several shopping centers in the United States, with plans to invest approximately $1 billion annually in renovations.
Skechers puts its best foot forward for Nepal

Skechers USA Inc. is making a big donation to support children affected by the earthquake in Nepal.

The company says it will give more than 62,000 pairs of new shoes to children in that nation. The company has distributed 11 million pairs of shoes to children in need worldwide since its BOBS charitable program launched in 2011.
Denny’s cooks up supply chain optimization

Spartanburg, S.C. - Denny's Corp. is cooking up something good on the back end. The casual dining chain has chosen Havi Global Solutions LLC (HGS) as its lead supplier of supply chain and packaging solutions.
Sales growth weak at Kohl's in Q1

Kohl’s couldn't combat weak consumer spending in the first quarter despite launching a loyalty program and new advertising initiatives.

Kevin Mansell, Kohl's chairman, chief executive officer and president, said: "Sales were modestly below our original expectations for the quarter, but accelerated in the March/April combined period after a weak February. We are very pleased with our earnings results, with a more balanced promotional calendar driving merchandise margin combined with strong expense control."
Children’s Place grows profit, shrinks sales in Q1

Secaucus, N.J. – A reduction in cost of sales helped The Children’s Place Inc. boost net income 15% to $15.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 from $13.6 million in the same quarter a year earlier. The Children’s Place achieved this increase in profitability even as net sales dropped 1% to $404.9 million, from $410.15 million.

Negative impact of foreign currency exchange fluctuations drove the reduction in net sales. Same-store sales rose 0.7%.
Security Experts Comment on Data Breach at Sally Beauty

Sally Beauty Holdings Inc. has confirmed that there was an “illegal intrusion” into the company’s payment card systems. It is the retailer’s second data breach in a little over the year. Here are insights on the breach from four security experts:

Steve Hultquist, chief evangelist at RedSeal, the security analytics company:
Online sales up, profit down at Nordstrom

Strong growth in its e-commerce divisions couldn't lift profits at Nordstrom Inc., which reported a drop in earnings for the first quarter.

For the period ended May 2, Nordstrom reported a profit of $128 million, or 66 cents a share, down from $140 million, or 72 cents a share, a year earlier. The retailer also reported that Nordstrom.com and Nordstromrack.com had a combined 70% increase in sales in the first quarter.