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September 24, 2014 More costumes than ever will be flying off the shelves as Americans gear up to celebrate the spookiest holiday of the year, according to NRF’s Halloween Consumer Spending Survey.  More than two-thirds (67.4%) of celebrants will buy Halloween costumes for the holiday, the most in the survey’s 11 year history.  The average... Read more »

September 23, 2014 Following fourth quarter results that missed Wall Street expectations, Ascena Retail is looking ahead to fiscal 2015, which CEO David Jaffe said will see the continuation of a critical, multi-year investment to build the company’s omnichannel platform. The company reported net earnings of $15.7 million, compared with $29.8 million in the year-ago... Read more »

September 19, 2012 The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) for the U.S. increased 0.2 percent in August to 103.8, following a 1.1 percent increase in July, and a 0.7 percent increase in June. “The LEI continued to rise in August, although at a slower rate than in July,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, Economist at The... Read more »

September 19, 2014 Investors don’t seem to care that Home Depot’s data breach is being characterized as the largest ever in the retail sector with shares of the company hitting a new high on Friday. Home Depot shares touched a 52-week high of $93.75 on Friday, a day after the company disclosed details about an... Read more »

September 19, 2014 The merger between Albertsons and Safeway is expected to close in a few months and when it does the combined company already has a new senior leadership and field operations structure in place. The companies late Friday announced key leadership positions it said drew on strong talent within both organizations to build... Read more »

September 18, 2014 Led by a steep 31.7 percent decline in multifamily production, nationwide housing starts fell 14.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 956,000 units in August, according to newly released figures from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.  Single-family housing starts dropped 2.4 percent... Read more »

September 18, 2014 Solid same store sales growth at Rite Aid caused second quarter profits to surge but looming pressure on pharmacy margins prompted the company to reduce its full year outlook. Rite Aid reported revenues of $6.5 billion for its second quarter ended August 30, representing a 3.9% lift credited to rising pharmacy same-store... Read more »

September 17, 2014 Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes rose for a fourth consecutive month in September to a level of 59 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today.  This latest four-point gain brings the index to its highest reading since November of 2005.... Read more »

September 16, 2014 Millennials will spend over $2 trillion on home purchases and rent in the next five years. Millennials’ housing aspirations are not so different than previous generations. Most plan to purchase homes and live in suburbs, and nearly all already have cars. Millennials will play a critical role in shaping housing demand over... Read more »