VILLAGE POSTS SALES, PROFIT GAINS
SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — Village Super Market here last week said increased traffic and higher average tickets helped boost sales and profitability in the company's second fiscal quarter. Bolstered by same-store sales gains of 5.9%, the 25-unit ShopRite operator said net income for the 13 weeks that ended Jan. 24 grew by 24%, to $7.96 million, on a 6.8% increase in sales, to $312.71 million. Year to date, net income was up 33%, to $14.32 million, on sales growth of 8.5%, to $603.7 million. Same-store sales for the half rose by 5.1%.
PENN TRAFFIC CUTS CEO'S SALARY
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Gregory Young, chief executive officer of Penn Traffic Co. here, has accepted a 10% reduction in his annual salary, the company said in a government filing. The retailer said Young's salary will be cut to $472,500 from $525,000 for the remainder of the 2010 fiscal year, which began last month. Young can make up the difference as part of his incentive plan, the company added.
FRESH MARKET PULLS OUT OF MICHIGAN
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Fresh Market store here closed on March 1, signaling the retailer's exit from the Michigan market. The Greensboro, N.C.-based specialty retailer had opened here two years ago and in Rochester Hills, Mich., in 2006. The latter location closed within a year due to poor market conditions, according to reports.
SAM'S CLUB RETREATS FROM CANADA
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — Wal-Mart Canada here said it plans to discontinue operating its six Sam's Clubs in Ontario later this month so it can focus on its supercenter operations. The company said it is in discussions with “a major U.S. retailer” — which industry sources believe to be an East Coast-based home improvement chain — to purchase Wal-Mart's interest in five of the six locations.
METRO RAMPS UP PRIVATE LABEL
TORONTO — Canadian retailer Metro has revamped its private-label brands with a new look and new formulations, and is rapidly ramping up the number of offerings in the lines, company executives said at an investor conference here last week. Currently the company offers 1,500 private-label items under two brands — a premium line called Irresistibles and a national-brand equivalent called Selections — but plans call for having 3,500 items in those lines by the end of the year, Richard Dufresne, senior vice president and chief financial officer, said at the CIBC Retail & Consumer Conference. He said sales of private-label items have been up in double digits at the Montreal-based retailer, although he noted it was unclear if the growth was due to the soft economy or to the product-line relaunches.
