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August 21, 2014 Family Dollar Stores rejected a $9 billion, all-cash takeover offer from Dollar General, pointing to antitrust concerns and reaffirming its support for its deal with smaller rival Dollar Tree. Family Dollar’s agreement with Dollar Tree, reached late last month, is worth about $8.5 billion in cash and stock, or $74.50 a share. ... Read more »

August 20, 2014 A day after Home Depot reported strong second-quarter results, it was Lowe’s turn to deliver strong quarterly earnings. And the Mooresville, North Carolina-based retail giant did just that.  The company reported net earnings of $1.04 billion for the quarter ended August 1, marking a 10.4% increase over the second quarter last year. ... Read more »

August 14, 2014 Same store sales growth of 6% and e-commerce strength helped J.C. Penney dramatically reduce its second quarter operating loss and demonstrate growing momentum of its turnaround. Sales at the operator of 1,060 stores increased to $2.8 billion from $2.66 billion and the 6% comp increase the company reported was against an easy... Read more »

August 19, 2014 Fueled by strong single and multifamily growth, nationwide housing starts rose 15.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.093 million units in July, the highest level since November 2013, according to newly released figures from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. “A return... Read more »

August 20, 2014 Recognizing that a number of the best deals of the summer are still to come, some families have only scratched the surface of their back-to-school shopping lists as of mid-August.  According to NRF’s latest Back-to-School/College Surveys, the average family with children in grades K-12 completed just half (49.9%) of their shopping by... Read more »

August 14, 2014 Nordstrom’s second quarter earnings were in line with its expectations.  The results come two weeks after the company said it was acquiring Trunk Club, a men’s personalized clothing service, for $350 million. Profit for the quarter remained flat compared to last year’s second quarter at $183 million.  Net sales for the quarter... Read more »

August 19, 2014 A 6.4% second quarter same store sales increase at U.S. stores enabled Home Depot to handily exceed analysts’ profit estimates and prompted the company to increase its full year outlook. The nation’s largest home improvement retailer said its sales for the quarter ended August 3 increased 5.7% to $23.8 billion and net... Read more »

August 18, 2014 Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes rose two points to 55 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for August, released today.  This third consecutive monthly gain brings the index to its highest level since January. “As the employment picture brightens, builders are... Read more »

August 18, 2014 Dollar General bid $78.50 for Family Dollar this morning in a $9.7 billion deal that exceeds the $74.50 a share Dollar Tree offered for Family Dollar on July 28. The deal would create a small format powerhouse with nearly 20,000 stores in 46 states and sales of more than $28 billion. “For... Read more »