Retail Stores

Wet Seal reported that net income for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 29 dropped to $5.3 million, compared with $74.2 million in the year-ago period. Last year’s fourth quarter included a noncash tax benefit of $64.7 million.

The nation’s capital tops a list of the healthiest retail markets for 2011. The ranking is based on the general overall health of a marketplace and includes such factors as overall economic indicators, income growth, ongoing construction, rental rate trends, and the amount of retail demand in the market.

Rue La La announced that it'll host a unique boutique featuring special-edition Japan Relief T-shirts created by Tory Burch. "The earthquake and tsunami in Japan triggered a need to help in all of us," said Ben Fischman, chief executive officer, Rue La La.  

Dollar General reported record sales, operating profit and net income for both the fourth quarter and the full 2010 fiscal year. Full-year net income rose 85.3 percent to $627.9 million, or $1.82 per diluted share, as sales increased 10.5 percent to $13.04 billion.

A new comScore study of online shopping in Europe shows that in January 2011, 270.6 million unique visitors browsed sites in the retail category, representing a market penetration of 74.5 percent of internet users, up 8.5 percent vs. last year.

VF Corp. plans to open 400 U.S. stores across its various brands during the next years. The company, whose stable of banners include Vans and The North Face, discussed its plans at an investor conference held recently in New York City. In addition to the U.S. expansion, VF is looking to open some 225 stores in Europe and 80 in Asia. The expansion is expected to bring the company’s global store count to 1,500 units.

Express announced its fourth quarter and full year 2010 financial results for the 13-week period ended January 29, 2011. Net sales increased 14 percent to $621.5 million from $546.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Tiffany & Co. said fourth-quarter earnings rose 29 percent as net sales jumped 12 percent to $1.1 billion. The company earned $181.2 million in the quarter compared with $140.4 million in the year-ago period. The latest quarter includes from the pending relocation of Tiffany's New York headquarters staff.

With pressure increasing on folks not to smoke, Zippo Manufacturing is hoping to capitalize on its brand by offering a wider variety of products — from watches to leisure clothing to cologne — through kiosks and Zippo-brand specialty stores designed to showcase the durable image reinforced by each distinctive lid "click" of its brass-encased, lifetime-guaranteed lighters.

It appears that talks between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Apple have broken down, resulting in Apple deciding not to open a new 16,000 square-foot retail store in one of New York’s most popular landmarks. Apple was in talks to secure retail space in New York’s Grand Central Terminal, opening a new Apple Store that would have been its biggest in terms of retail space.