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The U.S. Census Bureau announced that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for May, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $404.6 billion, a decrease of 0.2 percent (±0.5%) from the previous month, but 5.3 percent (±0.7%) above May 2011.  Total sales for the March through... Read more »

Speaking at The Home Depot’s 2012 Investor and Analyst Conference in Atlanta, Home Depot EVP Merchandising Craig Menear revved up the power tool rhetoric.  Menear said the company intends to defend its position as power tool market share leader.  He described power tools as a category with a relatively high vulnerability to online competitors. One... Read more »

While dads usually don’t get the same caliber of gift for Father’s Day as moms do on Mother’s Day, if the results of NRF’s latest survey are to be believed, dads should be pretty pleased with what they receive this year. According to NRF’s 2012 Father’s Day spending survey conducted by BIGinsight, the average person... Read more »

By Brian Girouard People today seamlessly integrate the use of all types of technologies in their lives, including the way they shop – at any time, at any location. As a result, they are more informed and selective about the products and services they want and use, and are more empowered towards the industries that... Read more »

Surging profits and a 6.7% first quarter same-store sales increase prompted Dollar General to raise its full-year profit forecast by three cents. Dollar General shows no signs of slowing down this year, after posting first-quarter results that saw the company’s total sales increase 13% to nearly $3.5 billion and net income increase 36% to $213... Read more »

According to the 2012 Retail Outlook Survey, 77% of retail executives indicate that their companies have significant cash on the balance sheet – up from 72% in KPMG’s 2011 survey – and 56% say their companies’ cash positions have increased from last year.  So,what do retail execs plan to do with their cash? 58% of... Read more »

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had declined slightly in April, fell further in May. The Index now stands at 64.9 (1985=100), down from 68.7 in April. The Expectations Index declined to 77.6 from 80.4, while the Present Situation Index decreased to 45.9 from 51.2 last month. Says Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at... Read more »

Macy’s reported Wednesday that same-store sales for the month of May increased 4.2% compared with the previous year.  Revenue rose 4.1% to $2.02 billion. “Growth in May 2012 came from stores and online, and across geography and categories of business,” said Terry J. Lundgren, chairman, president and CEO. “We are seeing the ongoing benefit of... Read more »

Lowe’s reported net earnings of $527 million for the quarter ended May 4, a 14.3% increase over the same period a year ago.  Sales for the quarter increased 7.9% to $13.2 billion, from $12.2 billion in the first quarter of 2011.  Comparable-store sales for the quarter increased 2.6%, while comparable-store sales for the U.S. business... Read more »