Holiday Retail Sales Come in at NRF Expectations

The National Retail Federation recapped Holiday 2013 in a PR… and sales were pretty good.  It remains to be seen however how profits fair due to heavy discounting.  The next quarterly filings by retailers will tell that tale.  Holiday Retail Sales Come in at NRF ExpectationsSales Increased 3.8% to $601.8 Billion; NRF Projected 3.9% to… Read more »

Store Traffic Declines

The growth of e-commerce and the omni-channel retail strategy appears to be having a significant impact on retail store foot traffic according to ShopperTrak.   An article in today’s WSJ highlights the issue  “Retailers got only about half the holiday traffic in 2013 as they did just three years earlier, according to ShopperTrak, which uses a… Read more »

Bon-Ton Reduces Full-Year Sales

Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (BONT) slashed its expectations for the year and the retailer warned poor winter weather in the majority of its markets led to lower traffic and hampered promotional events tied to the Christmas holiday. The retailer, which operates 273 department stores with locations in the Northeast, Midwest and upper Great Plains states, said… Read more »

Sears Holdings Corp Holiday Sales Down

Sears Holdings Corp announced sales at comp stores at Sears stores were down 9.2% in the nine weeks that ended January 6 and down 5.7% percent at Kmart stores.  Sales at the company have been falling since 2005, when billionaire hedge fund manager Edward Lampert merged the two U.S. chains in an $11 billion deal.… Read more »

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index for the U.S. Increased

December 19, 2013 The Conference Board Leading Economic Index for the U.S. increased 0.8 percent in November to 98.3, following a 0.1 percent increase in October, and a 1.0 percent increase in September. “The LEI continues on a broad-based upward trend, suggesting gradually strengthening economic conditions through early 2014,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, Economist at The… Read more »

Bloom Out At Family Dollar, Reiser Named CMO

January 9, 2014 The search is on for a new president and COO at Family Dollar following the resignation of Michael Bloom amid deteriorating financial results and a 3% same store sales decline in December. Bloom, who recently donned a disguise to appear in an episode of the CBS show “Undercover Boss,” spent two years… Read more »

Macy’s Inc. Announces strong 2013 Holiday sales and Cost Reduction Initiatives

CINCINNATI–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan. 8, 2014– Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) today announced that its comparable sales, together with comparable sales from departments licensed to third parties, rose by 4.3 percent in the 2013 holiday shopping season – the months of November and December combined – compared with the same period last year. November/December 2013 comparable sales were up… Read more »

U.S. Consumer Confidence Rebounds in December

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had decreased in November, rebounded in December.  The Index now stands at 78.1, up from 72.0 in November.  The Present Situation Index increased to 76.2 from 73.5.  The Expectations INdex increased to 79.4 from 71.1 last month. “Consumer confidence rebounded in December and is now close to pre-government… Read more »

U.S. Industrial Production Hits Prerecession Peak

WSJ, WASHINGTON—U.S. industrial output in November surpassed its prerecession peak for the first time, the latest sign of momentum for the economic recovery. Industrial production, which measures the output of U.S. manufacturers, utilities and mines, surged a seasonally adjusted 1.1% from the prior month, the Federal Reserve said Monday. That was the biggest jump in… Read more »