News

Target ranked 25th on Fortune’s listing of the 50 Most Admired Companies, which is the lowest level in the past six years. The decline could be viewed as troubling, but only if you buy into the notion that the list is the definitive report card on corporate reputations.

It is not, at least as far as retailers are concerned. In 2011 and 2010, Target was ranked 22nd, down from 2009 when it was ranked 19th and considerably below 2008 when it nearly broke into the top 10 with a ranking of 11th after a ranking of 13th in 2007.

Target has some ambitious growth plans for the next five years, and to help suppliers participate in that growth Retailing Today has partnered with the consulting firm Sales Is Not Simple to host a unique event on April 26 in downtown Minneapolis.

Incoming Target CFO John Mulligan and outgoing CFO Doug Scovanner participated in a Target sponsored meeting last Friday at the New York stock exchange. The event gave Wall Street analysts an opportunity to get to know Mulligan, and the consensus is the guy is a strong replacement for longtime CFO Scovanner whose tenure ends March 30.

Arlington, Va. — E-commerce sales continue to grow and have a major impact on multichannel retailers, according to new report from The Retail Industry Leaders Association. RILA, in partnership with Auburn University and with sponsorship from Accenture, on Wednesday released the third annual State of The Retail Supply Chain report.

By Tim Wright, [email protected]

Minneapolis — Target has donated $37,500 in monetary support and product to assist with tornado relief efforts underway in the central United States. The donation includes $25,000 cash for the American Red Cross to aid their efforts and an additional $12,500 that can be used either as cash or product donations to local organizations in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri.

Houston — Profits at apparel retailer Stage Stores rose 2% to $32.7 million during the fourth quarter, from $32 million a year earlier.

Revenue increased 6% to $479.1 million from $453.7 million, beating Wall Street's $468.2 million forecast.

For the year, Stage Stores reported net income of $31 million, down from $37.6 million in the prior year. Annual revenue climbed 3% to $1.51 billion.

Secaucus, N.J. — The Children's Place Retail Stores reported a drop in fourth-quarter net income. Children's Place also reported a drop in income from continuing operations after tax to $24.2 million, from $32.7 million in the year-ago period. The company said that comparable-store sales for the quarter declined 2.7%, and net sales were up only slightly (0.9%) to $457.5 million, from $453.2 million for fourth quarter 2010.

The chain said fourth-quarter sales performance was negatively impacted by the unseasonably warm weather this winter.

Paint manufacturer Valspar has announced that John Wardzel has joined the company as senior VP global operations, reporting to Steven Erdahl, EVP. In this role, Wardzel will provide executive leadership of Valspar’s global operations and becomes an officer of the company.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway is projecting that 2012 will be a good year for the retailer.

The company said ahead of an investor conference held Tuesday that it forecasts earnings per share will be in the range of $1.90 to $2.10 per diluted share. This compared with net income of $1.49 per diluted share in fiscal 2011, due to a tax charge 29 cents per diluted share. Excluding the charge, diluted earnings per share would have been $1.78 in fiscal 2011.