FORMER PENN TRAFFIC VPS SENTENCED
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Two former Penn Traffic executives who had pleaded guilty to artificially inflating the company's financial performance have been sentenced to 14 months in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York. Linda Jones, 50, former vice president of non-perishables merchandising, and Leslie Knox, 63, the former senior vice president and chief marketing officer, will also each pay $10,000 in fines and be subject to two years of supervised release following their prison sentences. They are scheduled to report to prison June 29. Prosecutors said Jones and Knox organized a scheme to prematurely recognize more than $9 million in vendor allowances between 2000 and 2003, inflating Penn Traffic's reported earnings.
SEASONAL SALES BOOST DOLLAR TREE Q1
CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Buoyed by strong performance at Valentine's Day and Easter, Dollar Tree saw comparable-store sales increase by 6.5% in the first quarter. The variety chain offering everything for $1 or less said last week that overall sales for the period that ended May 1 improved 12.6% to $1.35 billion, and net earnings increased 4.7% to $63.6 million. Earnings were affected by a $26.3 million inventory charge. Bob Sasser, chief executive officer, in a conference call said the chain performed especially well with seasonal goods compared with a year ago. “This was the result of our merchants delivering an exciting assortment of products, the best values ever, and our allocations and logistics teams getting it to the right stores at the right time,” he said.
DETROIT UNVEILS $1M GROCERY PROJECT
DETROIT — To help independent grocers expand on their fresh food offerings, Detroit Mayor David Bing unveiled a $1 million Green Grocer Project last week. Up to $500,000 in federal block grant funds will be used by the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., which is overseeing the project, to create a revolving loan fund for financing store improvements for the city's more than 80 grocers. About five markets may receive loans initially, Detroit officials said in a published report. The program's other $400,000 will be used to help five to 10 inner-city grocers with operational and expansion issues.
WAKEFERN LAUDED FOR WORKER HEALTH
KEASBEY, N.J. — Wakefern Food Corp. here last week was named as the 2010 recipient of the Harold R. Hawkey Exceptional Employer Award by the Employers Association of New Jersey, a trade group. The award recognizes Wakefern for health and wellness initiatives implemented for more than 1,500 workers designed to promote healthy lifestyles, prevent disease and manage existing medical conditions, including a companywide weight loss contest, classes to encourage exercise, and fitness center reimbursement programs.
TARGET SEES GAINS IN TRAFFIC, PROFITS
MINNEAPOLIS — Target Corp. here said last week that its store traffic was up in the first fiscal quarter compared with a year ago, even as rival Wal-Mart reported the exact opposite. Target said most of its 2.8% gain in comparable-store sales for the period, which ended May 1, was attributable to the 2.2% gain in comp-store traffic. Wal-Mart on Tuesday had reported a 1.1% decline in first-quarter comps, citing weaker traffic for the second consecutive quarter. At Target, sales of high-margin items like apparel helped drive a 28.6% gain in net income, to $671 million, while retail sales grew about 5.5%, to $15.2 billion.
