News

Framingham, Mass. -- The TJX Cos. reported Wednesday a profit of $604.8 million for the quarter ended Feb. 2, compared with $475.3 million in the year-ago period. Despite the strong showing, TJX forecast a slowed growth pace for the new fiscal year and issued a profit forecast below analysts’ expectations. And joining many other retailers, the company announced that beginning with the fiscal 2014 second quarter, it will no longer report monthly sales.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot largest shareholder Starboard Value said Wednesday it sent a letter to the office supply retailer’s board, urging it to sell its 50% joint-venture interest in the Office Depot de Mexico business as soon as possible.

Starboard, which owns a 14.8% stake in Office Depot, said it believes the value of the JV interest is not fully reflected in the retailer's stock price.

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. reported Wednesday a profit of $961 million for the fourth quarter, down from $981 million in the year-ago period. The profit slip reflected expenses related to its Canadian market entry along with a spending slowdown during the holiday sales period. It was Target's weakest holiday season performance since 2008. But its adjusted results beat analysts' estimates and it forecast first-quarter earnings above Wall Street's view.

By Sandy Skrovan, U.S. research director, Planet Retail

By Oren Betzaleli, EVP, head of product and marketing, Retalix

As smartphones and tablets continue to infiltrate the market, they are increasingly changing the way people interact with each other, receive information, and expect to be served by retailers and service providers. As a result, more and more retailers are starting to offer self-service mobile applications as a popular means to manage customer interaction and relationships.

Retailer-Owned vs. Consumer-Owned Self-Service

NEW YORK — Terry Lundgren, CEO of Macy’s, took the stand on Monday to testify in the trial of two Macy's lawsuits regarding the deal between JCPenney and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. The long-awaited trial began last Wednesday, in New York Supreme Court.

The trial is about whether Macy’s has the exclusive right to sell Martha Stewart branded cookware, bedding and certain other products. 

ROSEVILLE, Calif. — Revionics, aprovider of end-to-end merchandise optimization solutions, has appointed Jeff Edwards as SVP and managing director of Asia Pacific. Edwards has been successfully serving as Revionics’ SVP sales and account management for the company’s North American efforts. In his new role, Edwards will be responsible for strategic sales and business development efforts across the entire Asia Pacific region.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Comps were down 7% at RadioShack for the fourth quarter, driven by a decline in the mobility and consumer electronics platforms. Total sales and and operating revenue were $1.3 billion, compared with $1.4 billion last year.  

The company reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $63 million, or 63 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $12 million last year. 

Fourth quarter same store sales at The Home Depot advanced 7% and profits swelled 29% to $1 billion, or 68 cents, compared to profits of $774 million or 50 cents a share the prior year.

A 1.8% decline in second quarter same store sales at AutoZone was attributed to a two week tax return processing delay by the Internal Revenue Service.

The delay kept tax refunds out of the hand of AutoZone customers inclined to perform maintenance on their vehicles during the retailer’s second quarter ended February 9. Last week, Walmart also cited the tax processing delay as a source of sale weakness when it reported a 1% comp increase that was at the low end of its forecast range for a 1% to 3% increase.