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St. Louis -- Build-A-Bear Workshop reported a loss of $9 million for the fourth quarter, down from a profit of $8.3 million in the year-ago period. Total revenue dropped 5% to $119 million. The company said its profit and revenue took a hit when two movies it important product tie-ins with underperformed. In a conference call with analysts, Build-A-Bear CEO Maxine Clark said she was very disappointed by the fourth quarter results after sales increases in the second and third quarters. She noted that Build-A-Bear's key holiday products were related to the movies "Happy Feet Two" and "Alvin and

GNC reported that net income for the fourth quarter rose to $37.7 million, compared with $18.8 million a year earlier. Revenue increased 17 percent to $509.6 million in the quarter; domestic same-store sales rose 12.1 percent. In 2012, GNC plans to open approximately 125 net new domestic retail locations, 15 net new domestic franchise locations, 150 net new international franchise locations and 50 net new GNC-Rite Aid store-within-a-store locations.

New York City -- Mindy Grossman, CEO of HSN Inc., is staying at the home shopping giant and is not interested in becoming the next CEO at Avon Products Inc., according to Women's Wear Daily. The report cited a letter Grossman sent to top HSN executives at HSN. Previous reports had Grossman as a top candidate to replace Avon CEO Andrea Jung, who agreed in December to resign.

Sears laid off 100 workers at its headquarters outside of Chicago, two months after the company got a hefty tax credit for dropping a threat to move its headquarters out of state. Sears' spokesman Chris Brathwaite said the layoffs of "about 100 associates" at the company's headquarters in Hoffman Estates took effect immediately.

Cabela’s reported a fourth-quarter net income of $69.8 million, compared with $66.3 million last year. The company also announced plans to open a smaller-sized format, called Cabela’s Outpost Store, designed for markets with less than 250,000 people.

One of Australia's well-known fashion labels is taking another step forward in its bid to be the country's most innovative retailer. Sportsgirl has launched "window shop," which allows customers to purchase products without entering a brick-and-mortar store.

SHARE: Email Print LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Home furnishings retailer Ikea officially plugged-in the solar energy system installed at its store in College Park, Md.. The 148,200-square-foot PV array consists of a 1,196-kW system, built with 4,984 solar panels. The store will produce approximately 1,571,800 kWh of clean electricity annually, the equivalent of reducing 1,195 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), eliminating the emissions of 213 cars or powering 135 homes yearly, the company reports. Ikea owns and operates each of its photovoltaic energy systems atop its buildings as opposed to a solar lease or PPA (power purchase agreement) and this

In the ongoing news of worker abuse and suicide at Apple's top eight suppliers in China, with Foxconn Technology Group's factories most prominent in the glaring international spotlight, the Fair Labor Association (FLA) has begun its on-site inspections of conditions at factories at Apple's behest, and the initial reports are better than expected.

Shortly after a Wall Street analyst published estimates of Amazon Prime subscribers at about 11 million, unnamed sources told Bloomberg those figures were overstated. The Prime program costs $79 for a year of free 2-day shipping, giving members an incentive to begin their shopping on Amazon.com, and Cowen estimated in a recent report that Amazon had 11 million paid Prime members and 19 million total Prime users in the US. - see the data in Monday's EcommerceBytes newsletter. But Bloomberg said that as of October, only 3 - 5 million people subscribed to Prime. Bloomberg cited people familiar with

More retailers are integrating social features into their e-commerce sites to create a more personalized shopping experience and drive increased referral traffic and sales. A common question we hear from retailers considering Facebook Connect and Facebook Timeline applications is "what's the benefit of a 'Facebook-Connected' user?"