Dillard’s, Macy’s, Nordstrom and Kohl’s Q2 Sales Report

Four major department stores reported Q2 results this week. Dillard’s reported net income of $49.2 million for the quarter, compared to $89.5 million in Q1. While that is a significant drop from quarter to quarter, year over year net sales were close, with $1.427 billion this year compared to $1.452 billion in 2016. Comp store… Read more »

Home Improvement Spending Rising for Boomers and Millennials

The Wall Street Journal announced this week that Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies has reported an expectation of American spending on home improvements this year to top $316 billion. This latest boom in spending is being driven mostly by two groups on opposite ends of the age spectrum: baby boomers and millennials. Increasing… Read more »

Why All the Doom and Gloom? Retail is Up!

Forrester announced retail sales results just as the first half of an NRF/4-5-4/4-4-5 2017 season has come to a close. For most retailers, this week marks the first for the fall season/second half of the 2017 retail year. The news seems abundant about retail stores closings, missed sales targets and retail executives not getting bonuses,… Read more »

Our Commitment to Confidentiality

Warwick Allen joined Accelerated Analytics at the start of 2017 as the Director of Technology. Warwick has spent 25 years working with technology as a developer, project manager, quality assurance engineer, business analyst, IT manager and technology director. His talents lie in working with small companies to plan and execute their growth through collaboration, processes… Read more »

Vera Bradley Lifestyle Brand Expands with Bedding Launch This Week

This Thursday, Vera Bradley launches its iconic styles into its first bedding collection. The collection of comforters, quilts, coverlets and pillows will simultaneously launch at select Bed, Bath & Beyond and Bon-Ton stores, on VeraBradley.com and in a pop up at its New York flagship store. Vera Bradley also owns its own stores, and because… Read more »

Consumers Will Shop In-Store During Back-to-School Shopping Season

The International Council of Shopping Centers’ (ICSC) annual “Back-to-School Spending” survey revealed good news for brick and mortar retailers earlier this month. Consumers are in search of the best back-to-school deals and promotions and are hitting their local shopping centers to find them. This year, 89% of consumers will make their back-to-school purchases in local… Read more »

Vice President Pence Speaks at Retail Advocates Summit

The NRF (National Retail Federation) hosted this year’s Retail Advocates Summit, which was visited by Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday. He promised that the best days for American retailers are ahead. More than 200 retail representatives from across the US attended the annual conference, held in Washington, D.C.. The main focus for the conference… Read more »

Summer Retail Sales Low And Inventory Tracking a Problem

Retail sales fell in June overall, but not every segment of retail suffered. Sales at clothing and accessories stores decreased 0.1% in June and was unchanged in May. The decrease has been attributed to decreased pricing on products and low availability of inventory. Sporting goods stores also decreased in sales, by 0.6%. Online sales increased… Read more »

Growing Demand and Tight Supply Lifting Home Prices

A decade after the onset of the Great Recession, the national housing market has, by many measures, returned to normal, according to the latest State of the Nation’s Housing report, being released today by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Housing demand, home prices, and construction volumes are all on the rise, and… Read more »