News

Shelly Ibach, a former merchant at Target back when the company had a department store division, will replace Bill McLaughlin as president and CEO at Minneapolis-based mattress manufacturer and retailer Select Comfort.

Target will forever be associated with the weirdest Daytona 500 ever after the car it sponsors was mysteriously involved in a single car accident that caused a huge on-track fire and a two-hour delay that caused the already rained-delayed race to finish after midnight on Monday.

Target for the first time this year was named to the annual listing of America’s Top Corporations for Women’s Business Enterprises compiled by the organization Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

Broomfield, Col. -- Level 3 Communications announced that Stein Mart will implement Level 3's Smart WAN Solution to support critical business applications used by the company's 262 department stores throughout the United States.

Stein Mart will use the solution to more efficiently and reliably access frequently used business applications, such as revenue reporting, data analytics, and inventory tracking, by connecting its store and data facilities over a single network.

New York City -- The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y., approved the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.’s plan to exit bankruptcy plan. The supermarket company filed Chapter 11 in December 2010.

The reorganization plan includes $490 million in debt and equity financing from Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Cos.

Los Angeles -- More than 51% of consumers plan to spend the same amount of money in 2012 as in the previous year, according to a 2012 Shopping Outlook survey conducted by PriceGrabber, a part of Experian.

While more than half of the survey respondents plan to spend the same amount of money as they did last year, 21% indicated they plan to spend more, and 28% plan to spend less.

Broomfield, Colo. -- Level 3 Communications said Tuesday that Stein Mart will implement its Smart WAN Solution to support critical business applications.

Stein Mart will use Level 3's Smart WAN Solution to more efficiently and reliably access frequently used business applications, such as revenue reporting, data analytics, and inventory tracking, by connecting its store and data facilities over a single network.

North Bergen, N.J. -- Vitamin Shoppe reported Tuesday that net income for the fourth quarter surged 57% to $9.4 million from $6 million a year earlier, boosted by strong online results and an extra week in the fiscal calendar.

The vitamin retailer, which saw revenue climb 19% to $214.9 million in the quarter, said it is planning to open 52 new stores in 2012.

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot Inc. reported Monday that it swung to a profit of $12.3 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $108.6 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue edged up to $2.97 billion in the quarter, from $2.96 billion last year, missing Wall Street’s expected break-even on $3 billion in sales. Same-store sales dropped 5%, due in large part to a move away from promotions to shore up profitability, said the company.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe's rebranding efforts and focus on delivering a better customer experience seem to be paying off as the company ended the year with strong fourth-quarter sales and earnings.

The company reported net earnings of $322 million for the fourth quarter, a 13% increase over the same period a year ago. Diluted earnings per share increased 23.8% to 26 cents from 21 cents in the fourth quarter of 2010.