News

Columbus, Ohio -- Limited Brands Inc. reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended Oct. 27 dropped to $73.4 million from $94.3 million in the same quarter last year. Results still managed to beat Wall Street expectations.

Limited, which also owns Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works, saw sales slip 5.7% to $2.05 billion from $2.17 billion, but results matched analysts’ forecasts. Same-store sales climbed 5%.

Foster City, Calif. -- Visa Inc. announced Tuesday it has expanded the reach of V.me by Visa, landing more than 50 additional financial institution partners.  V.me, Visa’s new digital wallet service, eliminates the need for repeatedly entering account number, bill-to and ship-to information at checkout, simplifying the process. Account holders will be able to make payments online using V.me and check out simply by entering a username and password.
 

Jonathan Dall has joined sourcing solutions firm LogicSource as chief sales officer, a new position for the Norwalk, CT., based company owned by Bain Capital.

Framingham, Mass. -- IDC Retail Insights on Wednesday released a new survey report, “Business Strategy: At Hand Versus In Hand — Will Consumers Have the Upper Hand in the 2012 Holiday Showroom Showdown?,” which found that 48 million shoppers will “showroom” or use their smartphones in some manner while they shop in stores during the upcoming winter holiday season.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation said Wednesday that, for the first time in three months, retail sales ticked down slightly as consumers cooled discretionary spending in the face of inclement weather and uncertainty in Washington.

October retail sales (excluding automobiles, gas stations and restaurants) decreased 0.3% seasonally adjusted from September yet increased 3.9% unadjusted year-over-year.



By Victor Ho, CEO, FiveStars

The busiest shopping weekend of the year is just around the corner and retailers who don’t hit their sales plan won’t be able to blame the weather.

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples Inc. reported Wednesday a loss of $596.3 million for the third quarter, compared with a profit of $326.4 million a year earlier. Without restructuring costs, the office supply retailer generated a profit that just edged Wall Street expectations.

Sales for the quarter dropped 2% to $6.35 billion, missing analysts’ expected $6.45 billion in sales.