News

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart held its annual shareholders’ meeting Friday morning against the backdrop of the company’s 50th anniversary and allegations of corruption in Mexico.

The seemingly diametrically opposed situations presented senior executives with the opportunity to underscore how the company’s unique culture and such enduring values as integrity would power future growth.

Bensalem, Pa. -- Charming Shoppes reported Friday that net income for the first quarter plummeted 31.7% to $17.8 million, from $26 million in the year-ago period.

Sales dropped 4.6% to $481.3 million, largely due to the shuttering of 157 stores. E-commerce was a strength in the quarter, up 18% over the prior-year period. Same-store sales were flat in the first quarter, including a 1% comparable-store sales increase for Lane Bryant, a 5% comparable-store sales increase for Catherines, and a 3% comparable-store sales decrease for Fashion Bug.

Armonk, N.Y. -- An IBM "Institute of Business Value" study revealed that self checkout is the preferred way to shop for most consumers today, and more than half said they want to use a mobile device to scan while shopping, and to do final checkout at a self-checkout station. More than 40% want to scan samples and retrieve shopping items for pickup, or have the items delivered directly to their homes.

New York -- Wal-Mart Stores is expected to face scrutiny from shareholders at its annual meeting on Friday in the wake of allegations of bribery  in Mexico.

The allegations are being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and government agencies in Mexico. Wal-Mart is also conducting an internal probe.
 

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings announced that Sears Canada has filed a Registration Statement on Form 20-F with the U.S. SEC in connection with the company’s previously announced plan to spin-off a portion of its interest in Sears Canada.

PLANO, Texas -- Ron Johnson, CEO of J.C. Penney, will answer questions from investors at the Piper Jaffray 32nd Annual Consumer Conference in New York City on June 5, 2012.
   
The question and answer session will begin at 8:30 a.m. ET and will be available via live webcast on jcpenney's Investor Relations page at http://ir.jcpenney.com.  Replays of the webcast will be available for up to 90 days after the event.
 

Pittsburgh -- American Eagle Outfitters announced that Mary Boland has been appointed executive VP, chief financial and administrative officer, effective July 9.

Boland’s responsibilities will include finance, investor relations, merchandise planning and allocation, strategy planning, and other administrative functions. She joins AEO from Levi Strauss & Company where she most recently served as senior VP of finance for Global Levi’s.
 

The trend of improving delinquency rates within Target’s credit card portfolio just keeps getting better, and in May the percentage of customers past due on their accounts sank to another new low.

Target’s more selective granting of credit and shoppers more judicious use of their cards sent the number of accounts 60 and 90 day past due down to 2.6% and 1.8%, respectively. Those figures are represented continued improvement from comparable April numbers of 2.7% and 1.9% that also set a new low and were a marked improvement from earlier in the year.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target reported a 4.4% increase in May same-store sales that was toward the upper end of a guidance range that called for a low-to-mid single-digit increase.

Same-store sales at Costco’s U.S. stores increased 5% during the four week period ended May 27.