News

Where the retail sales are this spring
Retailers with a presence in Denver, San Antonio, Nashville, Fort Lauderdale and Dallas should expect strong sales in the months ahead based on a new report which identifies those cities as the nation’s hottest housing market.
Brown Shoe Company to change name, add men’s line
St. Louis -- One of St. Louis’ oldest public companies and one of the nation’s most diverse footwear companies, Brown Shoe Company, is putting a new foot forward and changing its name to “Caleres,” a Latin word that means “passionate, to glow.” The Brown name, however, will live on in a new men’s footwear business called Brown Shoe Bootmakers that the company plans to launch in 2016.

Smart & Final keeps expanding after stock sale

Smart & Final’s largest shareholder has further reduced its ownership stake in the profitable and growing company by 10 million shares, but still maintains majority control as the retailer pursues ambitious plans in 2015.
99 Cents Only Stores shrinks Q4 net loss

City of Commerce, Calif. – 99 Cents Only Stores Inc. shrank its net loss to $2.3 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, compared to net loss of $14.7 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. Net loss decreased primarily due to a previously disclosed workers' compensation charge in the previous fourth quarter.
Net sales slightly rose 1% to $512.6 million from $505.7 million. Same-store sales climbed 2.8%.
Meijer moves forward with new omnichannel idea

Meijer is experimenting with a click and collect service at a store in its hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich., and indicating the offering will be rolled out to other markets later this year.
American Express, Jawbone partner for wearable payments

New York - American Express and wearable device provider Jawbone are launching a new partnership giving eligible U.S. American Express card members the ability to “tap to pay” with the new Jawbone UP4 fitness tracker. This partnership and product launch marks the first time consumers can use a wearable fitness tracker with an embedded NFC chip for contactless American Express payments

The new Jawbone UP4 tracker is expected to be available for purchase in summer 2014.
Lowe’s CEO pay drops 24%

Mooresville, N.C. – Reduced stock awards and incentives resulted in a roughly 24% pay cut for Robert Niblock, president, chairman and CEO of Lowe’s Companies Inc., in 2014. In an SEC filing, Lowe’s reported that Niblock’s total compensation in 2014 came to $14.3 million, compared to $18.7 million in 2013.
Niblock’s base salary grew 5% to $1.3 million from $1.2 million. However, Niblock’s stock awards fell to $5.8 million from $9.8 million, and other incentives decreased, as well.
Do It Best relaunches ecommerce site

Fort Wayne, Ind. - Do it Best Corp., a hardware, lumber and building materials cooperative with 3,800 member-owned locations worldwide, has re-launched its ecommerce site on the WebLinc platform.

In addition, the company is unveiling a phased approach to re-launching individual member sites which will enable them to maintain their distinct, customer-facing identities while being integrated and powered by the same sophisticated commerce platform.
Party City celebrates IPO, rings NYSE bell

Shares of Party City enjoyed a nice first-day pop on April 16 after the company completed its initial public stock offering.

A total of 21,875,000 shares were priced at $17 in the offering and began trading at $20.15. By the end of the first day’s trading, shares had advanced $3.70 to close up 21.8% at $20.70. The company’s ticker symbol is PRTY.
Toys “R” Us makes big difference for Special Olympics

When the Special Olympics get underway in late July in Los Angeles, a major awareness effort and hefty donation from Toys “R” Us will make a powerful contribution.

The retailer spent the past two months executing a broad-based campaign in stores and online to benefit the Special Olympics, which raised more than $4 million as well as awareness of an event in which roughly 7,000 athletes will participate.