News

New York City -- Jones Group's net income fell 34% in the first quarter, weighed down by higher costs and charges tied to an acquisition.

Jones Group earned $25.9 million, compared with $39.4 million a year ago.

Jones Group said its quarterly results included about $11 million in costs and charges tied to its Stuart Weitzman acquisition and other restructuring and strategic review costs. Last year's quarter included costs and charges totaling approximately $3 million.

DALLAS -- Tuesday Morning cut its losses and posted a slight same-store sales increase for its fiscal third quarter, as the company heads toward profitability. The company reported a net loss for the quarter of $3.6 million, or 8 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $4.3 million, or 10 cents per share, for the same period last year.

NEW YORK -- Phillips-Van Heusen announced the appointment of Andrea Elliott as VP and general manager Canadian retail operations.

In this newly created position, Elliott is responsible for all aspects of the Canadian launch of Calvin Klein, Van Heusen, IZOD, and G.H. Bass & Co. retail stores across Canada. Elliot, who is based in Toronto, will oversee the store operations for each of these brands in Canada, and will report directly to Steve Shiffman, group president and COO PVH Retail Brands.

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Office Depot's position as a leader in the office retail space may be in jeopardy as the company reported a first-quarter loss and sales declines across all of its business platforms.

Office Depot announced that total company sales for the first quarter of 2011 were $3 billion, a decrease of 3% compared with the first quarter of 2010. Excluding sales related to asset dispositions and deconsolidation in the fourth quarter of 2010 and an acquisition in the first quarter of 2011, total company sales decreased 2% versus prior year.

CITY OF COMMERCE, Calif.  -- Retailers have been taking advantage of the much-anticipated "Royal Wedding" to promote their own wedding services, but one of the more surprising of the bunch is 99 Cents Only Stores, which used the hoopla around the upcoming union of Prince William and Kate Middleton to announce the launch of its "Bridal Registry" for couples.

OAKLAND, Calif. — A third-party certifier of Fair Trade consumer products said that 2010 saw an increase of such products on the market.

Fair Trade USA said that the Fair Trade market in 2010 saw a boost in both new and existing product categories. New products included apparel, green peppers, vodka and a wide array of herbs, spices and extracts. What's more, Fair Trade coffee and cocoa continued to expand. Fair Trade USA certified nearly 109 million lbs. of Fair Trade coffee, while nearly 3.9 million lbs. of cocoa received Fair Trade certification.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- OfficeMax announced that it has partnered with ChamberSolutions, a provider of member benefit programs, to launch ChamberAdvantage a nationwide program offered through OfficeMax's popular partnership advantage program.  ChamberAdvantage offers member businesses of any size a wide selection of and competitive pricing on office supplies and furniture, and printing services through OfficeMax ImPress.

MINNEAPOLIS  -- Target announced that it will adopt green refrigeration technologies in its stores as part of its new membership in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) GreenChill program. 

BALDWYN, Miss. -- Hancock Fabrics reported that net sales for its fourth quarter were $78.4 million compared with $77.7 million in the fourth quarter last year, and comparable-same store sales increased 0.7%, compared with a 1.3% decrease in the previous year.

Operating income for the quarter was a loss of $8.4 million, a decrease of $11.7 million compared with a $3.3 million profit in the previous year’s fourth quarter.

MONROE, Mich. -- La-Z-Boy announced that it has promoted R. Rand Tucker to the newly created position of VP and general counsel of the company, effective May 1, where he will be responsible for overseeing all of the company's legal and environmental affairs.

Tucker joined La-Z-Boy in 2000 as corporate counsel, when La-Z-Boy acquired LADD Furniture.  At LADD, he served as VP and general counsel.  Prior to joining LADD, Tucker was a partner in the Charlotte office of Kilpatrick Stockton LLP.