News

Bartell Drugs is celebrating healthy and beautiful living during its Spring Health & Beauty Event, being held now at Bartell locations in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.

Between March 2 and 15, activities at selected locations will include health clinics, free beauty “mini makeover” demonstrations and hair styling tips by Conair, and product samples ranging from cosmetics to dental care.

Stater Bros. Charities has presented a check in the amount of $75,000 to City of Hope to train a social worker in geriatrics and serve as the primary point person for elderly patients.

The social worker will gain hands on experience working with the geriatrics team, participate in educational conference calls, seminars and conferences and develop a comprehensive resource manual for older patients that will provide information about support services on campus and in the community.

As Kimberly-Clark continues to focus on driving global expansion, the company has made executive changes so it can execute its business goals.

Elane Stock, group president of Kimberly-Clark Professional (KCP), has been elected group president of K-C International (KCI), and is succeeding Christian Brickman, who is leaving to pursue a senior executive officer position outside of K-C. Kim Underhill, currently president of K-C's European consumer business, has been elected president of KCP.

Ascena Retail Group, the operator Lane Bryant, Justice and Dress Barn stores, cited increased spending on growth initiatives and a challenging sales climate for a second quarter profit decline and its second full year earnings guidance reduction in two months.

Forth Worth, Texas -- Pier I reduced its fourth quarter and fiscal 2014 profit forecasts, blaming the negative impact of severe winter weather. The home furnishings chain is the latest in a series of retailers to credit the extremely cold weather as the main reason for its reduced outlook.

New York -- The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index inched up to 81.6 in February from 81.2 in January.

"The most significant implication is not whether consumers have correctly assessed the weather's negative impact on the economy, but the resilience consumers have demonstrated in the face of the polar vortex as well as higher utility bills and minimal employment gains," said survey director Richard Curtain.

Dallas – Zale Corp. reported a 10% in net earnings during the second quarter of fiscal 2014, rising to $51 million from $41 million in the same quarter the prior year. However, revenues dipped 2% to $656 million from $671 million, while same-store sales rose 1.9%.

Zale attributed the decline in revenues primarily to the net decrease of 86 stores compared to fiscal 2013 and a decline in the Canadian exchange rate, partially offset by the 1.9% constant currency same-store sales growth.

Phoenix – Same-store sales and strong performance at new stores helped drive impressive net come and revenue growth at Sprouts Farmers Markets Inc. during the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2014. On a year-over-year basis, net earnings more than doubled to $9.3 million from $5.9 million in the quarter and almost tripled to $51.3 million from $19.5 million.

New York - Verizon Enterprise Solutions has opened the Verizon Cyber Intelligence Center (VCIC). The new center will offer advanced detection and response capabilities to better manage and mitigate cyber attacks.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong-based supermarket chain ParknShop has chosen Galleria Retail Technology Solutions to further enhance its merchandising operations. ParknShop will use Galleria category planning, automation and optimization solutions to obtain insights via clustering and demand signal analytics, as well as optimize and execute its store strategy.