Retail Briefs

A bedroom decorated in House Beautiful style is one component in a multi-channel spring makeover campaign just launched by Sears and Hearst Magazines under the rubric "ReImagine You." The apparel and home furnishings focus of the print, digital, and video mix is clear in the centerpiece, a Hearst-created, 36-page Sears magazine mailing to 7 million subscribers and 2 million other consumers. TheDailyGreen.com, Hearst's eco-friendly lifestyle website, will provide some editorial material. At the reimagineyourself.com website, consumers can get room-by-room makeover advice from Team ReImagine celebs such as Ty Pennington, and enter a Sears sweepstakes.

JCPenney has named The Vidal Partnership its U.S. Hispanic advertising agency of record. The agency's client list runs from Cadbury, Diageo and Kraft Foods to Johnson & Johnson, the NFL and The Home Depot. JCP multicultural marketing director Olivia Vela said, "The in-depth experience of their senior leadership team will accelerate our Hispanic marketing outreach."

Upper Midwest upscale discounter Shopko plans a groundbreaking for its fifth Iowa store later this month, an 80,000-square-foot prototype in Council Bluffs that will feature improved layout, sightlines and decor. This will be the 132–unit chain's first new store to be built in six years, and is aimed for a March 2009 opening. In 2008, Shopko will open five new stores in Wisconsin and another in Minnesota; these include three new full-line prototypes and three Shopko Express drug stores.

Home improvement chain Lowe's reported sharply reduced earnings — and for 2008 forecast a comp store decline and still lower profits. Lowe's 2007 4Q net profit fell 33.4% to $408 million, on flat sales of $10.4 billion. Annual earnings of $2.81 billion were down 9.5%. For the year, sales climbed 2.9% to $48.3 billion — but comps fell 5.1%. The company projected 2008 earnings per share of $1.50 to $1.58, down from 2007's EPS of $1.86, and gave a sales forecast of 3% growth but a comp decline of 5% to 6%. Chairman and ceo Robert Niblock predicted economic factors would improve in the second half of the current year.