Fred’s Launches Aggressive Marketing Campaign

May 8, 2014 Fred’s plans to implement a long-term marketing strategy stressing everyday low pricing and the convenience of a smaller box to help bolster sales against what the company describes as “intense competitive pressures.”  The company’s pharmacy operations continue to grow, however. Fred’s reported $150 million in sales for the four weeks ended May… Read more »

Costco April Sales Beat Analysts’ Expectations

May 8, 2014 The timing of Easter this year left Costco with 27 days of sales in April, rather than last year’s 28.  But despite the Easter holiday shift, Costco still came out on top with a 7% increase in net sales that reportedly beat analysts’ expectations. The company reported net sales of $8.56 billion… Read more »

Supervalu To Acquire Rainbow Stores In The Twin Cities

May 7, 2014 Supervalu, the owner of Cub Foods, along with four Twin Cities-based independent grocery retailers, have each entered into definitive agreements to acquire select Rainbow Foods grocery stores.  In total, they agreed to acquire 18 Rainbow grocery stores, including 13 Rainbow pharmacies and three Rainbow liquor stores in Minnesota. Jerry’s Enterprises, Haug Enterprises,… Read more »

Whole Foods’ Record Revenue Increase Not Enough For Street

May 7, 2014 Despite the Easter holiday shift, Whole Foods reported second quarter revenue of $3.32 billion, a record increase of 10% from the prior-year quarter.  But the record was not enough for Wall Street, which expected $3.34 billion. The company’s earnings per share of 38 cents for the quarter also came in below expectations… Read more »

Healthy Housing Industry Spurs Job Growth

May 7, 2014 The health of housing is key for the overall state of the U.S. economy and housing stands poised to serve as an engine of job growth with the right policies in place, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) told Congress today. Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Policy… Read more »

ODP Plans 400 Store Closures

May 6, 2014 Office Depot said it plans to close 400 of its 2,000 stores as it looks to realize efficiencies related to its merger with OfficeMax. An estimated 150 of the stores will close this year, according to the company, which reported first quarter results and continued weakness in same store sales.  The company… Read more »

Walgreens Sees Boost In April Sales

May 5, 2014 Walgreens posted April sales of $6.49 billion, an increase of 8.8% from $5.96 billion for the same month in fiscal 2013. Total front-end sales increased 8.8% in April compared with the same month in fiscal 2013, while same-store front-end sales increased 8.2%.  Customer traffic in comparable stores increased 2.6% while basket size… Read more »

CVS ‘Solid’ In First Quarter

May 2, 2014 Despite severe weather-related issues during the first quarter, CVS reported “solid results” across the enterprise and executives expressed optimism in achieving 2014 goals. “It is unusual to hear us talk about the impact of weather on our business.  Historically, it has been our practice to not blame the weather when we explain… Read more »

Economic Highlights For The Week Ahead – May 5

May 5, 2014 Last week: Perhaps the biggest news in this data-heavy week is the rebound in wage growth.  Factories and stores, idled by winter weather, were back in business in March.  The jobs report shows they continued to catch up in April.  But as The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index has been signaling for… Read more »