Sales At Stores

Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc. said La-Van Hawkins has quit the board of the Florida fast-food chain and may sell his interest in 43 Checkers' stores.Mr. Hawkins, the owner of the chain's Baltimore outlets, is negotiating to form a new company.Mr. Hawkins, 36, said he is not prepared yet to announce details of the new venture, other than to say he will have major corporate partners, that the venture will be in the fast-food business, and that it could have sales of $1 billion and employ 15,000 to 20,000 African-Americans by the time it reaches its peak.

It took Under Armour 15 years to become a billion-dollar sports apparel company. It doesn't plan to take things so slowly anymore. President and CEO Kevin Plank told investors and analysts Thursday that the Baltimore-based company's goal is to double growth in the next three years to more than $2 billion. Plank said the increase would be driven by apparel sales and its direct-to-consumer business, which includes e-commerce and sales from company-owned retail stores. They will also raise prices on some items to offset the rising cost of materials used in their production.

Macy earnings again on targetR. H. Macy & Co. Inc. said yesterday that its earnings met expectations in June for the fifth straight month, although sales were held back by a weak performance in the Northeast.Macy said its June earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization totaled $12.2 million, compared to a loss of $7.4 million in June 1992. Sales at stores open at least a year -- the most commonly used measure of retail sales strength -- rose 1.5 percent, while sales from all of Macy's stores were up 3.1 percent.

Frugal-minded shoppers spent their tax rebate checks at discount merchants last month, boosting sales at some of the country's largest chains. But they stayed away from higher-priced department stores and specialty stores, causing sales to fall by double-digits at Nordstrom Inc. and American Eagle Outfitters Inc. It was a sign that consumers are confining themselves to spending on the basics, and even then, they are looking for bargains, retail experts...

Shares of Landover-based Hechinger Co. fell 11.3 percent yesterday after the retailer said sales at stores open more than a year fell 2 percent last month.In all, sales at the company were up 20 percent to $251 million, with the company's Home Quarters Warehouse providing a 46 percent increase in total sales. The Hechinger stores saw a 2 percent decline in overall sales among old and new outlets.Hechinger said same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least one year, for Hechinger Stores fell 3 percent, while sales at same-store Home Quarters were flat.

Merry-Go-Round Enterprises Inc.This Joppa-based apparel chain, which sells contemporary clothes for young men and women, continued its strong performance in the face of a weak economy by increasing its profits almost 32 percent in the first quarter, which ended May 4, compared to the same period a year ago.Sales at stores open a year or more increased 12 percent in the quarter Chief Executive Michael Sullivan pointed out that the jump came on top of a...

BENTONVILLE, Ark.- Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s same-store sales rose 6.2 percent last month, more than the world's largest retailer had forecast, as it gained sales at the expense of department stores and grocery chains. The retailer said yesterday that sales in the four weeks that ended Friday rose 12 percent to $18.34 billion. Last month, Wal-Mart forecast a 4 percent to 6 percent rise in sales at stores open at least a year. Sales of seasonal items such as gardening equipment and summer clothing rose over the Memorial Day holiday as temperatures rose after falling below average in the first three weeks of the month, analysts said.

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. reported a strong profit gain of 12 cents per share for the third quarter ended Oct. 31, despite flat sales at stores open at least a year.Income from continuing operations climbed to $2.2 million, or 32 cents per share, from $500,000, or 7 cents per share, in the third quarter of 1997, the men's apparel retailer said yesterday.After backing out a one-time $1.4 million tax benefit, the company's earnings rose 71 percent, to 12 cents per share."It sounds like they had a terrific quarter," said Kenneth Gassman, a retail analyst with Richmond, Va.-based Davenport & Co., who follows the company.

Cosmetic CenterThe Cosmetic Center Inc., a Savage-based discount retailer of beauty products and perfume, reported healthy gains in earnings and sales during a quarter when many retailers were staggered by the recession.The company reported a 12.6 percent gain in earnings for its first fiscal quarter, which ended Dec. 27, with a strong 11 percent gain over 1990 in sales at stores that had been open at least a year. Total sales rose 16.9 percent as the company expanded to 37 stores in the Baltimore-Washington area, Chicago and Richmond, Va. The company said it has signed leases to open three more stores by summer, in Ellicott City, Chevy Chase and Chantilly, Va.Three months ending 12/27/91.

Despite a strong rise in catalog and retail sales at new stores, Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. said yesterday that its same-store sales decreased 1.5 percent for the quarter ended May 3 compared to the same period of 1996.Timothy F. Finley, chairman and chief executive officer, said he was pleased with the results, however, because the Hampstead-based company's total sales for the quarter were up 6.2 percent, to $38.7 million from $36.4 million in 1996."Overall they were pretty good," he said.

Alfredo Cardona of Santa Ana, Calif., has always liked buying his clothes at Nordstrom, but lately he's switched to Burlington Coat Factory, where the prices are lower. The 24-year-old financial adviser said he now shops "anywhere you can save." And he's not alone. Retailers posted moderate sales results for June yesterday as shoppers kept spending but tried to get more for their money. Wall Street celebrated the sales report with major gains yesterday, seeing evidence that the retail economy was not collapsing amid a nationwide housing downturn.

CHICAGO -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. yesterday posted lower quarterly earnings for the first time in nearly a decade, as charges stemming from its decision to exit Germany offset the gains it enjoyed from consumers' back-to-school shopping. The world's largest retailer also reaffirmed its forecast for the rest of the year but said the second half could be challenging. Wal-Mart said it earned $2.08 billion, or 50 cents a share, down from last year's profit of $2.81 billion, or 67 cents a share.

MADISON, Wis. -- Three years after Sears placed Lands' End clothing on racks throughout its stores, the company is experimenting with a new approach: Lands' End stores within the stores. Sears opened its latest such store in Madison last month and three others in New York and New Jersey late last year. If enough customers like the new concept, Sears will expand it. This year, Sears plans to open 25 Lands' End shops in Sears stores in the Northeast, Lands' End spokeswoman Jackie Schutty said.

Retailers ranging from discounter Target Corp. to upscale Nordstrom Inc. reported vibrant January sales yesterday, as they benefited from consumers eager to venture out in exceptionally mild weather to use gift cards they received during the holidays. The International Council of Shopping Centers reported that same-store sales rose 5.1 percent compared with January 2004, based on a survey of 65 retailers. That's the best performance since June 2005. Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, are considered the best indicator of a retailer's health.

Gage World Class Mens Wear has dressed some of Baltimore's most visible men over the years. Kweisi Mfume, U.S. Senate candidate and former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and congressman, said he gets 95 percent of his wardrobe from the retailer. Delicatessen owner Marc Attman got his first suit there, a green one, at age 9. And Kurt L. Schmoke frequented the downtown location when he was mayor of Baltimore from 1987 to 1999 and later when he resumed the practice of law. "I love that place," said Schmoke, now dean of the Howard University School of Law in Washington.

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc., the Hampstead menswear chain that has faced questions about its accounting methods, announced yesterday that it would alter how it calculates store sales. The retailer, which has 269 stores in 37 states and the nation's capital, said it will adopt the practice common in its industry to compare sales in all stores open at least a year. Previously, Bank omitted older stores from its year-over-year sales comparisons if they were within 10 miles of a newer Bank store open at least a year.

MADISON, Wis. -- Three years after Sears placed Lands' End clothing on racks throughout its stores, the company is experimenting with a new approach: Lands' End stores within the stores. Sears opened its latest such store in Madison last month and three others in New York and New Jersey late last year. If enough customers like the new concept, Sears will expand it. This year, Sears plans to open 25 Lands' End shops in Sears stores in the Northeast, Lands' End spokeswoman Jackie Schutty said.

Hechinger Co. yesterday blamed a cool, wet spring for dampening its April sales and helping to produce a first-quarter loss of $13.5 million compared with a loss of $6 million for the same period last year.The loss -- 32 cents per share, compared with 14 cents last year -- was in keeping with analysts' expectations."I don't think there were any surprises in the quarter," said Donald Spindel, an analyst with A.G. Edwards in St. Louis. The company had reported a 16 percent decrease in same-store sales in April.

Men's retailer Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. reported a 20 percent increase in fiscal third-quarter earnings yesterday, but a meager rise in same-store sales as a warm autumn caused shoppers to delay cold-weather purchases of leather jackets and sweaters. The Hampstead-based company, which was criticized by analysts last year for having too much inventory relative to the number of stores it needed to stock, also said it missed out on some sales because it didn't have enough suits in stock.

NEW YORK - Sales at U.S. retailers increased less than expected in April as the benefit of tax refunds began running out. A retail shares index had its biggest drop since January. The Standard & Poor's 500 retailing index, which has 30 members, fell 2.1 percent. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s shares fell $1.28 yesterday to close at $54.58; Sears, Roebuck and Co. lost $1.92 to $38.08; and May Department Stores Co. lost $1.14 to close at $24.70. Sales at stores open at least a year rose 4.4 percent when compared with April 2003, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.