Retail News Archives

Columbus, Ohio-based Limited Brands Inc. announced the appointment of Peter Horvath as executive vice president of business integration.

The tally was Christie's highest ever for an Asian sales series and a 58 percent increase on the same event last year.

State food inspectors need to step up enforcement efforts against violators and perform more timely reviews, a state audit released Friday found.

J. Crew Group Inc. , the clothing retailer run by former Gap Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mickey Drexler , plunged as much as 19 percent in late New York trading after forecasting full-year profit lower than ...

Fashion designer Patricia Field and Payless ShoeSource have announced they have created a line of shoes and clutch bags priced at $35 and under.

The Kroger Co. said Thursday that it has made a 'significant investment' in Brentwood-based The Little Clinic LLC to help speed up a nationwide rollout of walk-in medical clinics in its supermarkets.

Hutchison Telecommunications has sealed a deal with Apple Inc to market the U.S. firm's popular iPhone handset in the city and Macau as soon as the next quarter, a Hong Kong newspaper reported on Friday.

Amazon.com said Friday that publisher Simon & Shuster will make 5,000 more books available electronically for the Amazon Kindle, bumping to 125,000 the number of titles available for the wireless device that ...

In this file photo taken Jan. 30, 2007, Carlos Ortiz, former CVS vice president of government affairs, leaves federal court in Providence, R.I., following his arraignment on conspiracy and bribery charges.

Jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co. reported Friday that strong growth in the Asia-Pacific and European markets helped its first-quarter profits rise 19 percent but said that it doesn't expect an improvement in the ...

Anthony M. Tesvich, 42, of Atlanta, was charged Thursday with three counts of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud against Home Depot.

Battered retailer Sears Holdings Corp. posted its largest quarterly loss Thursday since Sears and Kmart combined, providing surprising results far below Wall Street forecasts and issuing a dour sales forecast ...

Thursday, May 29, 2008 WBAL Radio as reported by Robert Lang and Associated Press State Senator Ulysses Currie speaks to reporters in March.

Meijer stores will begin offering free prenatal vitamins to customers with prescriptions from their doctors.

Circuit City says it is cutting 123 employees nationally from a pilot program of its Firedog service business.

Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco Wholesale Corp. says profit rose to $295.1-million , or 67 cents per share, from $224-million, or 49 cents per share, a year ago, which included a $30.3-million charge.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc, the largest Internet retailer, will launch a streaming video service in the next few weeks to augment its digital offerings, the company's chief executive said on Wednesday.

Jeff Bezos, speaking at The Wall Street Journal's three-day D: All Things Digital conference taking place north of San Diego, did not elaborate, and a company spokeswoman would not provide more information.

The Seattle-based company has been beefing up its digital media offerings in order to better compete with rivals such as Apple Inc, which dominates the category with the popular iTunes music download service.

An Arkansas woman has filed a federal lawsuit accusing a Connecticut company of making plastic baby bottles with a dangerous chemical linked to serious health problems.

Blockbuster Inc. unveiled a prototype of an in-store kiosk for downloading movies at its annual meeting on Wednesday, part of its plan to transform into more than just a DVD rental chain.

A Harvard Medical School professor is expected to be the next president of the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

The University of Texas System board of regents on Tuesday named Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky as the sole finalist for the job. The regents are expected to finalize his appointment on June 20.

Podolsky would replace Dr. Kern Wildenthal, who has announced he will step down in September after 22 years on the job.

Podolsky is a former president of the American Gastroenterological Association. For the past three years, he has been chief academic officer for Partners HealthCare and he's on the board of directors and on the audit committee of pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline.

U.S. home prices fell at their highest rate in two decades in March, according to a study released Tuesday.

Fashion brand Burberry Group reported a 14 percent rise in annual profit, helped by strong sales of its luxury handbags and trench coats, and declined to comment on talk it could be a takeover target.

A judge in the federal corruption trial of two former CVS executives denied a request for a mistrial on Tuesday but took the unusual step of giving defense lawyers the option to question the government's star ...

Move over Jonas Brothers, the Kaulitz twins are moving in. The 18-year-old Kaulitz brothers comprise half of Tokio Hotel, a German glam-pop quartet that is creating Beatles-like hysteria among the teen set in ...

A Tacoma, Wash.10-year-old who made national headlines last year by stealing a car, getting caught, then hopping a flight from Seattle to Phoenix and then San Antonio without a ticket was arrested again Tuesday ...

When the upscale initiative was launched in the fall, it seemed like a good idea.

High prices at the pump and the produce aisle have sent home gardeners into their yards with a mission: Grow-it-yourself dining.

More... Base, Kings Island, Kroger part of teen jobs market By John Nolan DAYTON - If you are a teenager hoping to find a job and earn some money this summer, get going and motivate yourself to personally visit ...

Borders Group is jumping back into online retailing with a Web site designed to evoke the feeling of browsing at a neighborhood bookstore, down to the popular shelves of staff picks that are familiar to its customers nationwide.

But after seven years paired with Amazon.com, analysts say it will be a challenge for the new Borders.com to step out of the shadow of the Web retailing giant.

'It's not the intent that we're going to out-Amazon Amazon at what they do,' Borders Group Inc. President and CEO George Jones said earlier this year. 'What we think is that we can still have a great, compelling offering.'

Sponsored by American Eagle Outfitters, curated by Red Hot Chili Peppers ' Anthony Kiedis and featuring a college battle of the bands might not be the ideal way to bill a fest, but the lineup for the New ...

A vibrant oil sketch by Tom Thomson has sold for nearly $2 million at auction, a record price for the iconic Canadian painter that has art watchers closely watching the fate of another Thomson coming up for ...

A real estate investment group has agreed to pay nearly $1.5 billion in cash for four Manhattan office towers, including the landmark General Motors building on Fifth Avenue from New York developer Harry ...

Alternative Technology, Inc., an Arrow Electronics, Inc. company and leading specialty distributor of thin-client/server-based computing, edge infrastructure, virtualization, and security solutions, continues ...

Shares of athletic footwear retailer Foot Locker Inc. rose Friday after the company maintained its fiscal-year 2008 guidance and its adjusted profit met Wall Street expectations.

Need diesel to run your car or truck? Shed some tears, some really big tears . The pain will be felt by motorists and consumers alike.

It's no secret that Zune sales are a fraction of those of the iPod, and GameStop has seen enough.

An iconic oil sketch by Tom Thomson will be the centrepiece of a Sotheby's art auction set for Monday in Toronto.

Some retailers are pushing new summer entertainment collections and low-priced items for backyard activities such as grills, patio furniture and inflatable pools, along with materials for small home-improvement ...

Stein Mart Inc. reported first-quarter earnings Thursday of $7 million, or 17 cents a share, slightly lower than last year but a surprise to analysts who were generally expecting a loss in the quarter.

Shares of Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. fell sharply in premarket trading on Friday, a day after the apparel retailer cut its profit outlook for the year.

Google extended its U.S. lead in web search in April, taking market share from rivals Yahoo and Microsoft , according to industry data released on Thursday.

If you're one of the roughly 2 million buyers of Microsoft 's gutsy portable media player over the past two years, you won't like me today.

Posted May 22nd 2008 5:58PM by Trey Thoelcke Filed under: Earnings reports , Gap Inc Ubiquitous mall retailers Gap Inc.

Wal-Mart just started up a new blog called Make Your Dollar Stretch , which is dedicated to teaching you how to save money .

Three teens have pleaded guilty to a string of car arsons in southern Dallas, fire officials said Thursday.

The nation's largest traditional grocery chain says it has expanded its gas discount program across its regions.

Clothing retailer Gap Inc. boosted its first-quarter profit by 40 percent despite a persistent sales slump that seems likely to deepen this summer as consumers scrimp on fashion to help offset rising gasoline ...

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Indigo Books & Music Inc. earned a fourth-quarter profit of $3.1-million compared with a loss a year ago, the retailer said Thursday.

Children's Place Retail Stores Inc. said Thursday its first-quarter profit climbed 33%, helped by its exit from the Disney Stores business and increased same-store sales.

By MARIA HALKIAS / The Dallas Morning News mhalkias@dallasnews.com Zale Corp.'s stock soared Thursday after management told Wall Street what it wanted to hear from a jeweler in a troubled economy: It bought ...

After his first year at the helm of Home Depot, his record on stock price hasn't been good, Home Depot CEO Frank Blake said Thursday at the company's annual meeting.

Gap Kids clothes on display at a Gap Kids store in Palo Alto, Calif., Wednesday, May 21, 2008.

Movie Gallery, which is exiting Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, has named C.J. Gabriel Junior, president and chief executive to succeed founder Joe Malugen.

Foreign companies are defending themselves against accusations spread on Chinese Web sites that they are doing too little to help earthquake survivors.

Online comments called for boycotts of McDonald's, Wal-Mart, Nokia and others _ in one case calling them 'International Super-Misers' _ but companies said they felt no impact.

'We feel very proud of what we've done. We've done a lot,' said Thomas Jonsson, a spokesman for Nokia Corp., which donated food, tents and mobile phones for rescuers. On Wednesday, it pledged 35 million yuan ($5 million) for reconstruction.

Limited Brands Inc. said Wednesday its first-quarter earnings nearly doubled on an asset sale.

Walking Away: Sir Tom Hunter after agreeing the cut-price sale of his stake. Picture:PA Tesco is to take full control of Dobbies Garden Centres after pushing through a deal to buy the 29.2% stake of garden ...

Women's apparel retailer Talbots Inc posted higher-than-expected quarterly operating profit on Wednesday and affirmed its full-year forecast, sending its shares up 21 percent.

A magazine that the Humane Society of the United States says promotes cockfighting has agreed to ask Amazon.com to stop selling its publication online.

The settlement filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on Monday is related to a lawsuit the Humane Society filed against Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. in February 2007.

In the lawsuit, the Humane Society accused the online retailer of violating federal animal cruelty laws by selling The Gamecock and The Feathered Warrior, which the group described as cockfighting magazines.

Shares of Borders Group Inc. soared 14 percent Wednesday following a published report that rival bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc.

BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. reported a nearly 26 percent increase in its first-quarter profit and raised earnings expectations for the full year, reaping the benefits of a tough economy that's increasingly sending shoppers to discounters in search of deals.

The nation's third-largest discount warehouse club said Wednesday it earned $17.19 million, or 29 cents per share, in the three months ended May 3. That's up from a profit of $13.65 million, or 21 cents per share, a year ago, when results were boosted a penny per share from the asset sales after BJ's closed 46 in-store pharmacies.

An employee in Wal-Mart's Labor Relations Department has settled her discrimination lawsuit with the world's largest retailer.

Texas officials estimate it will cost the state about $21 million next year to care for the hundreds of children removed from a polygamist cult.

The jammed, noisy streets of New York's Lower East Side and the peaceful parks of California don't have much in common at first glance, but both are endangered by bulldozers or budget cuts.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation on Tuesday put the New York neighborhood and the California parks on its list of this year's most endangered places, along with an old brick schoolhouse in Kansas that launched one of the most important legal cases in U.S. history: Brown vs. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 desegregation ruling from the Supreme Court.

Seventy-five Percent of Online Shoppers Have Used an Alternative Payment Method; More than Half Look for Alternative Payment Methods When Shopping Online MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.-- --It ' s no surprise that ...

Kohl's Corp. is donating $3 million to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to establish a retail center.

Auctions from Sotheby's and Christie's Combined Generate 11% Jump from Last Year

The bidding war for British cooking equipment supplier Enodis PLC heated up on Monday, as Manitowoc Co.

Lowe's Cos. Inc.'s net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2008 fell nearly 18 percent, to $607 million, or 41 cents per fully diluted share, from the same period last year, when home-improvement retailer ...

By KIM HORNER / The Dallas Morning News khorner@dallasnews.com Dallas' new homeless center opens Tuesday with great expectations: Expectations that fewer people will sleep on downtown sidewalks.

Weather For Today Fresh Looks With New Rugs. Explore Weather For Today . BizRate.com/rugs Today's Weather Save Money.

In the market for a riverview property near Brockville with 28 rooms, 13 fireplaces, secret passages, towers and a granite squash court? The 112-year-old Singer Castle on Dark Island could be yours today for ...

Consumer confidence falls to lowest in 28 years Energy stocks rise sharply U.S. stocks fell on Friday after the price of oil hit a record and consumer sentiment data came in surprisingly weak, reviving concerns ...

Steven E.F. Brown - San Francisco Business Times Sharper Image Corp. got approval from U.S. Bankruptcy Court to sell its assets in a $51.25 million deal.

Q : Why haven't my shares of Tiffany & Co. done better? It is supposed to be such a great company.

Any sober, God-fearing newsperson is wary when the subject turns to magic and myth.

By LESLIE ALBRECHT lalbrecht@mercedsun-star.com After 21 years in Merced, BMC West will be closing its 16th Street doors.

A Meridian police officer was rushed to the hospital following a fight with a man wanted by Boise Police in connection to a motorhome pursuit.

Davis Ricard, CVS's executive vice president and chief financial officer, answers questions from prosecutor Stephen Drambruch, center.

DENVER - Picking a winner of the presidential contest is front and center at what's being billed as the largest astrologers' convention in years.

The state of Rhode Island's lawsuit against lead-paint manufacturers is all about finding somebody in the private sector to pick up the costs for an unnecessary $2.4 billion clean-up plan, even though there's ...

Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. today announced that it has agreed to sell the Hyatt Regency Montreal in Montreal, Quebec to Pandox for $58.5 million CDN .

Shoppers have been lugging ever-larger products to their ever-bigger cars for years.

A vivid blue 3.7-carat diamond ring sold for nearly $5 million at auction, becoming the priciest gemstone per carat ever, Sotheby's said Friday.

Wall Street was headed for a modestly higher open Friday as investors awaited data on new home construction last month.

The Commerce Department is expected to report that construction of new single-family homes and apartments declined in April by about 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 940,000 units, according to the median estimate of economists polled by Thomson/IFR. Building permits, a harbinger of future activity, are anticipated to fall as well.

The stock market has been slammed with poor readings on the housing market for several months now, so weak results do not come as a surprise. However, with Wall Street hoping for an economic rebound in the second half of 2008, many investors are searching for signs that the housing market, while weak, is perhaps bottoming out. Read more

FAO Schwarz will open toy stores in close to 700 Macy's department stores over the next two years.

The companies said Friday that about 75 full-size FAO toy stores will open across the country in the fall, along with about 200 smaller shops that will be up to 300 square feet.

There will be 685 toy stores opened in Macy's over the next two years.

The 146 year-old FAO Schwarz will sell its own private label collection at Macy's stores.

FAO Schwarz continues to independently own and operate its own stores, including the Fifth Avenue Flagship store in New York. Read more

Teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch said Friday that its first-quarter earnings rose 3 percent from a year ago on stronger sales.

Abercrombie said it earned $62.1 million, or 69 cents per share, in the three months ended May 3 compared with profits of $60.1 million, or 65 cents a share, a year ago.

Sales rose 8 percent to $800.1 million from $742.4 million last year.

But sales at stores open at least a year, considered a key indicator of a retailer's strength, fell 3 percent in the quarter. Read more

“Department stores have been hurt, pretty much more than any other class of stores. That makes sense in a weak economy”

Department store chains slumping as consumers choose food, g