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Wendy's is rolling out its updated image and new store environment to some 200 locations this year. Features include lounge seating, fireplaces and digital menuboards. The re-imaged restaurants have shown an average 25% increase in sales over the prior year.  Learn more.

Design and rebranding: Tesser, San Francisco

A vocal minority continues to keeps Walmart at bay in New York where reports this week indicated the company has pulled back on expansion efforts there.

Walmart’s efforts in New York have been a series of fits and starts so to whatever degree the company has pulled back, don’t expect it to last. Walmart will be back and there waiting for it will be those ideologically opposed to anything Walmart does.

AVON, Ohio — Duck Tape is heading to the runway this Thursday on Lifetime’s “Project Runway,” as season 11’s aspiring designers face the “Unconventional Materials Challenge,” a competition in every season that challenges them to create high-fashion clothing from something other than fabric.

New York -- Gap Inc. said Thursday that its February same-store sales rose a better-than-expected 3% for the four weeks ended Feb. 25. Analysts expected a 2% increase.
   
The chain was due to release the sales figures after the market closed, but put them out at midday after they were found in a leaked transcript of prerecorded comments.

By division, same-store sales rose 2% at Gap and 6% at Old Navy. They fell 5% at Banana Republic.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Hanes has received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's highly coveted Energy Star Sustained Excellence Award for 2013.  The award is the company's fourth consecutive year of Energy Star recognition and its second consecutive year as a recipient of the Sustained Excellence Award, which is given to a select group of organizations that have exhibited outstanding sustainability leadership year after year.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Stein Mart reported that its total sales for the month of February were $85.2 million, an increase of 5.6% over total sales of $80.7 million for the four-week period ended Feb. 25, 2012. Comparable-store sales for the month increased 0.6%.

PHOENIX — PetSmart reported that its fourth quarter earnings were up 36% to $1.24. Comparable-store sales, or sales in stores open at least a year, grew 4.6%, benefitting from comparable transactions growth of 1.2%. Total sales for the quarter were up 15% to $1.9 billion.

For the year, the company delivered earnings per share of $3.55, up 39% compared with $2.55 last year. Comparable-store sales grew 6.3%, benefitting from comparable transactions growth of 2.4%. Total sales for the year were $6.8 billion, up 11%.

TORONTO, ONTARIO —  The Canadian arm of the United Food and Commercial Workers union has taken aim at Target for its alleged unfair treatment of former Zellers workers.

The union claims that Target, which is converting 189 Zellers stores, is not giving former employees a fair shake in the hiring process and that many have been turned down for employment without reason.