Resources

Ace Hardware announced it’s acquisition of The Grommet this week. Ace Hardware and The Grommet first began working together in 2016 as part of a collaboration to bring new, unique and otherwise undiscovered products from independent entrepreneurs, also known as Makers, into select Ace stores. Successful products shared via The Grommet include FitBit, OtterBox and... Read more »

In an announcement yesterday, Shoppertrak, a leading provider of shopper analytics, predicted that Friday, November 24th (also known as Black Friday) will be the busiest shopping day of 2017. For the first time since 2012, there will be four Saturdays in December prior to Christmas Day, influencing shopper behavior. Saturday, December 23rd and Saturday, December... Read more »

Several fashion retailers who cater to younger consumers also have beauty sections in their stores –  H&M, Urban Outfitters and Sephora in JCPenny – but Forever 21 is making a big move in the beauty game with plans to open over a dozen stand-alone beauty boutiques under the name Riley Rose. The new stores are... Read more »

Late last Monday, iconic brick-and-mortar toy retailer Toys R Us filed for chapter 11 reorganization. Once a toy mecca with with their jingle on the tips of every Reagan-era kids’ tongue, more recently Toys R Us has accumulated a heavy debt load that has weighed on the company for years. Combined with tough competition from... Read more »

Many Accelerated Analytics customers use our portal to get their Canadian retailers’ reporting, such as Nordstrom, Sephora, The Home Depot, Lowe’s and Canadian Tire. Canadian sales in July were mixed. The value of retail sales rose 0.4% to $39.82 billion (US dollars conversion). Year-over-year, nominal retail sales rose 7.8%. The retail segment (excluding auto) rose... Read more »

Accelerated Analytics’ CEO, Chad Symens, and Director of Sales and Marketing, Jen Freyer, attended and sponsored the Home Improvement Research Institute event in Chicago this week. HIRI saw a record turnout of attendees at this 2-day event. Home and hardware vendors and retailers joined industry leaders to share insights into the current and future market... Read more »

Enhancing the DIY Brand-Retailer Connection: A View from Behind the Scenes As the U.S. housing market continues to strengthen, consumers are buying houses and making them their dream homes through DIY improvements. And, when these consumers delve into painting, sanding, tiling and rewiring—perhaps as first time projects—they visit their local home improvement center, looking for... Read more »

Next month will see the opening of Nordstrom’s new concept store, Nordstrom Local. The store will open October 3 in West Hollywood, CA and will be only 3,000 square feet, versus its traditional store size of 140,000 square feet. Nordstrom Local is the company’s latest retail concept and neighborhood hub where customers can shop and... Read more »

The Institute for Supply Management announced on Friday that manufacturing in the US reached a six-year high, seeing activity rise to 58.8 on its index versus 56.3 in July. This is the highest the index has risen since April 2011. This number indicates strong global growth in manufacturing and increased consumer and business confidence in... Read more »