Top Stories

• JCPenney unveils new home brands
  
  HTT Staff, May 15, 2012
  New York - JCPenney at its meeting with analysts here Tuesday evening unveiled a host of new brands for the home department, which will be revamped as of March 1, 2013 with a Martha Stewart shop as its anchor.
  
• JCPenney sales dropped 20.1% in the first quarter
  
  HTT Staff, May 15, 2012
  Plano, Texas - JCPenney just released the numbers on its first quarter performance, saying that while the transformation of the company to a new strategy is ahead of schedule, "sales and profitability have been tougher than expected."
  
• TJX: HomeGoods brand ‘more and more powerful'
  
  HTT Staff, May 15, 2012
  Framingham, Mass. - Reflecting on the strong first quarter, TJX ceo talked up the HomeGoods division during the company's quarterly conference call this morning.
  
• Cotton price 79 cents
  
  HTT Staff, May 15, 2012
  New York - Yesterday's closing price on Cotton #2 futures for July contracts was 79 cents. The price on October contracts was also 79 cents.
  
• April growth modest but sustains pattern
  
  HTT Staff, May 15, 2012
  Washington - Although sales were somewhat soft, April marked the 22nd consecutive month of year-over-over sales growth, according to the National Retail Federation.
  
• Home Depot 1Q beats plan
  
  HTT Staff, May 15, 2012
  Atlanta - Home Depot's first quarter profit jump 23% to $1.0 billion, or 68 cents per share.
  
• Same-store sales stronger in May's 2nd week
  
  HTT Staff, May 15, 2012
  New York - Comps rose 3.7% during the second week of May, propelled by fair weather, Mother's Day and the approach of graduation day in many parts of the country, according to The Johnson Redbook Retail Index.
  
• Target tops for value in Harris poll
  
  HTT Staff, May 15, 2012
  New York - For the second year in a row, consumers named Target the Value Retail Brand of the Year, according to the 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend (EQ) study. Kohl's was top-ranked among department stores, and Nordstrom scored the highest among luxury department stores.
  
• Demand greeting exhibitors at hospitality show
  
  HTT Staff, May 15, 2012
  Las Vegas - The Hospitality Design Expo and Conference kicks off here today, and exhibitors preparing for the show last week told HTT they were optimistic about a backlog of demand in the supply line.
  
• Soft-Tex signs licensing deal with Vicki Payne
  
  HTT Staff, May 15, 2012
  Waterford, N.Y. - Specialty sleep product manufacturer Soft-Tex has signed an agreement to manufacture basic bedding for designer and TV personality Vicki Payne, host of the nationally syndicated television program "For Your Home."
  
• Craft Crafts inks deal with Carter's
  
  HTT Staff, May 15, 2012
  Los Angeles - Crown Crafts Infant Products, a subsidiary of Crown Crafts Inc., has entered a licensing agreement with Carter's, producer of baby and toddler apparel under the Carter's and OshKosh B'gosh brands.
  
• Initial impact of JCPenney pricing shift to be discovered tomorrow
  
  HTT Staff, May 14, 2012
  Plano, Texas - Late tomorrow afternoon, JCPenney's ceo will face analysts for the first time since he unveiled the company's ambitious makeover plan in February.
  
• Target announces next set of collaborators for The Shops at Target
  
  HTT Staff, May 14, 2012
  Minneapolis - The first group of short-run shop concept shops in Target stores is barely a week old, but the retailer has Tweeted the identities of the next group of brands its will carry beginning Sept. 9.
  
• Ikea building its largest North American store in Montreal
  
  Michael J. Knell, May 14, 2012
  Montreal - Ikea Canada has begun the expansion of one of its two stores here in North America's largest French-speaking city, which when completed in summer 2013 will be the company's largest outlet in North America with 469,694 square feet of retail space.
  
• NYIGF welcomes new and returning exhibitors to At Home section
  
  HTT Staff, May 14, 2012
  New York - The New York International Gift Fair has announced new exhibitors who will be showing in the At Home area of the event here at the Javits Convention Center and Passenger Ship Terminal Pier 94 from Aug 18-22.
  
• Cotton price 79 cents
  
  HTT Staff, May 14, 2012
  New York - Friday's end of day price on Cotton #2 futures for July contracts was 79 cents. The price on October contracts was 78 cents.
  
• Gordmans kicks off fiscal 2012 with strong Q1
  
  HTT Staff, May 11, 2012
  Omaha - Regional department store chain Gordmans Stores Inc. reaped double digit increases in sales and net income in its first quarter, catapulting the company's confidence for a strong 2012 fiscal year.
  
• Cotton price 82 cents
  
  HTT Staff, May 11, 2012
  New York - Yesterday's end of day price on Cotton #2 futures for July contracts was 82 cents. The price on October contracts was also 82 cents.
  
• Dillard's pleased with 1Q
  
  HTT Staff, May 11, 2012
  Little Rock, Ark. - Home and furniture were lagging categories in a strong first quarter for Dillard's, which saw profit jump 24% to $95.0 million, or $1.89 per share.
  
• Nourison taps Kennedy as vp, home textiles
  
  HTT Staff, May 11, 2012
  Saddle Brook, NJ - Nourison has hired 35-year industry veteran Kevin Kennedy to head its growing home textiles division.