News

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Books-A-Million has announced that it will open 41 new BAM! stores in markets across the U.S. in early November. The company has also closed 21 underperforming locations during its third quarter. 

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation said it welcomed a proposal unveiled by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., to reform the nation’s corporate tax structure.

New York City -- Macy’s has launched a new online destination, called mBLOG, for fashion, beauty, home and lifestyle news and trends at macys.com/mblog.

Each day of the week is dedicated to a specific topic, and embedded e-commerce enables readers to purchase featured merchandise directly from macys.com.

Uniqlo’s, the expansion-minded Japanese apparel retailer, has opened open its largest store in the world, an 89,000-sq.-ft., three-level flagship on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

Designed by the cutting-edge Japanese firm Wonderwall, the new Uniqlo is sleek and futuristic. It is massive in scale, with 100 fitting rooms, 45 checkouts, 100 LCD and LED screens, four glass elevators and an escalator that takes customers from the entry directly to the third level, which is the main selling floor.

New York City -- The U.S. retail industry will perform in line with sluggish U.S. GDP growth through 2012 as persistent unemployment, stock market volatility and economic gloom weigh on consumer confidence and spending, according to a new report by Moody's Investors Service.
 

Fort Worth, Texas -- RadioShack Corp. reported Tuesday that profit for the quarter ended Sept. 30 plummeted to $300,000, compared with earnings of $46 million in the year-ago period. The retailer cited the transition from T-Mobile offerings to Verizon Wireless as a major reason for the performance decline, although that was offset somewhat by new mobile service and sales centers in Target stores. The company launched Verizon Wireless in more than 4,400 stores on Sept. 15, as well as ramped up its Target Mobile centers rollout in the same period.

North Bergen, N.J. -- Vitamin Shoppe reported Wednesday that net income for the quarter ended Sept. 24 rose to $11.9 million, compared with $7.2 million for the same period last year. 

Sales increased 11.5% to $208.9 million, from $187.4 million last year. Same-store sales rose 7.1%. The company opened 10 stores during the quarter, and expects to open 48 new stores in this fiscal year and another 52 locations in fiscal 2012.
 

Minneapolis -- Best Buy Co. announced Tuesday that it will waive the minimum purchase limitations and offer free shipping on its complete inventory of 400,000 website items from Nov. 1 through Dec. 27.

"Consumers are looking for value, service and savings this year, and our goal is to provide them with convenient, creative and less costly ways to make the holiday shopping experience more enjoyable," said Barry Judge, executive VP and CMO, in a statement.

St. Louis -- Brown Shoe Co. said Wednesday it has finalized the sale of its And 1 men’s performance and lifestyle brand to Galaxy International for $55 million.

The And 1 brand was part of the $145 million American Sporting Goods acquisition that Brown completed last February in a move to expand its reach into the fitness category.

Brown Shoe said it plans to use the proceeds from the sale of And 1 to pay down debt.

Pollo Campero, the fast-growing Latin chicken chain, unveiled a new prototype designed by Interbrand Design Forum. Created with the American consumer in mind, the new design debuted in Webster, Texas. Two other locations are due to open in the Houston area by yearend.