Retail Stores

Collective Brands, the parent company of Payless ShoeSource, said its net loss narrowed slightly in the fourth quarter as sales improved in its wholesale unit. The performance beat Wall Street expectations.

Major big-box retailers have been shifting to smaller stores — and scratching around for more profitable ways to fill under-used spaces as they go about reinventing themselves.

Pier 1 Imports’ same-store sales increased rose 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter. The chain also offered earnings guidance for the quarter that was slightly above what Wall Street expected. Total revenue for the quarter rose 8 percent to $427 million from $396 million.

Kantar Retail IQ has released a report comparing a basket of goods bought at Target with an identical basket bought at Wal-Mart. The findings were good news for Target customers, because the study found that Target is cheaper than Wal-Mart.

Automation — long a force in agriculture and manufacturing — is accelerating in the retail sector, a trend that could hamper efforts to bring down the nation's stubbornly high jobless rate.

Discount retailer Loehmann's said it's emerged from bankruptcy protection, which it sought in November after its Dubai government-linked owner failed to reach a debt-extension deal with creditors. 

Customer engagement can be broadly defined as when a targeted consumer focuses their complete attention on a particular brand’s message in an uncluttered environment. Then, this attention is accounted for and recorded. True engagement is a long-term play that encourages repeat customer value through purchasing actions and the generation of word-of-mouth interest.

For many, it's already too late to change direction on a rudderless ship that has been left in the wake of the rapid decline in hard copy book sales. Barnes & Noble on the other hand, is using a change in strategy to help weather the storm.

Staples said its fourth-quarter net income rose 18 percent on lower operating expenses, but winter storms kept results under analyst expectations. The chain offered first-quarter guidance slightly below expectations.

Fresh off a big win at the Oscars, Liberty Media booked higher revenues in its QVC and Starz businesses during the fourth-quarter, led by stronger e-commerce sales and improved across-the-board demand.