Ross Stores Reports Strong Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2010 Earnings GrowthRoss Stores, Inc. reported earnings per share for the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2011 of $1.37. These results represent a strong 18% increase on top of an outstanding 53% gain for the same period last year. Net earnings for the 2010 fourth quarter grew to a record $161.8 million, up 13% from $142.9 million in the prior year. Sales for the fourth quarter ended January 29, 2011 grew 8% to $2.145 billion, with comparable store sales up 4% on top of a 10% gain in 2009.
PR Newswire
Neiman Marcus 2nd-Quarter Net Income JumpsUpscale department store operator Neiman Marcus Inc. said its fiscal second-quarter earnings rose more than five-fold as shoppers begin to spend more. Net income rose to $21 million in the 13 weeks that ended Jan. 29, from nearly $4 million a year earlier. The privately held company's second-quarter revenue rose 6 percent to $1.17 billion from $1.1 billion. Neiman Marcus's revenue in stores open at least a year rose 6 percent.
Bloomberg Business
New Leaf Organic Market to Open Store in San Jose This FallSanta Cruz County's New Leaf Community Markets is going to expand to Silicon Valley. The locally owned natural foods store has signed a 15-year lease to open a 25,000-square-foot market this fall. A remodel is planned in order to offer a fresh salad bar, a hot food bar and a juice bar, features in New Leaf's other locations. This is New Leaf's first venture into Santa Clara County. Over 25 years, New Leaf has grown to five stores in Santa Cruz County and one in Half Moon Bay in San Mateo County.
Inside Bay Area
Associated Food Stores to Close its Sixth Supermarket Associated Food Stores will be closing its sixth corporate-owned store on March 25 when the Fresh Markets supermarket in Cottonwood Heights is shuttered. Salt Lake-based Associated Food also closed two Fresh Market stores in Salt Lake City and one in Provo. The Fresh Market store was part of 34 Albertsons locations that Associated Food purchased in 2009. Company officials say the store's weak sales and its close proximity to other sister stores, which are members of Associated Food, made the closing necessary.
Salt Lake Tribune
Officials See an Increase in Theft of Baby FormulaWith theft of baby formula seeing a growing trend, police consider it to be one of the hottest items in terms of resale value on the street. Rockaway Township police have handled four baby formula shoplifting cases in the past 15 months, but the numbers could be higher, as supermarkets often use store security officers to sign complaints and pursue restitution. The Food Marketing Institute's vice president of industry relations sees the thefts as part of a growing problem with organized retail crime. Baby formula is always in demand. Shoplifters supply stolen baby formula and other items to fences who in turn resell them in other stores, online and at flea markets.
Daily Record
Receipts Going PaperlessMore stores are offering the option of "paperless receipts" for environmentally conscious consumers who don't mind giving out their e-mail addresses. Major retailers such as Apple, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters and Nordstrom already give customers the option to go digital while the Container Store and Best Buy are participating in a pilot program with Intuit. Whole Foods is piloting a paperless option in the mid-Atlantic region that could spread nationwide.
Boston Herald
| 
