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March 7, 2014 Severe weather that persisted during the year’s shortest month affected Gap’s February sales results. The company reported net sales for the four-week period ended March 1 of $929 million, compared with net sales of $966 million for the four-week period ended March 2, 2013.  Comparable-store sales for the month declined 7%, versus... Read more »

March 7, 2014 The Bon-Ton Stores is investing in its growing e-commerce business.  The company has signed a lease with Duke Realty Corp for a 743,000 sq. ft., automated, direct-to-consumer fulfillment center in West Jefferson, Ohio. The company expects the facility to be fully operational and ship its first orders in spring of 2015. The... Read more »

March 7, 2014 National Retail Federation president and CEO Matthew Shay and chief economist Jack Kleinhenz issued a response to the organization’s February jobs report. “While there are signs of modest momentum in the economy, now is not the time to play partisan politics with the recovery by forcing federal mandates on retailers and small... Read more »

March 3, 2014 Ascena Retail Group, the operator of Lane Bryant, Justice and Dress Barn stores, cited increased spending on growth initiatives and a challenging sales climate for a second quarter profit decline and its second full year earnings guidance reduction in two months. Sales for the company’s second quarter ended January 26 increased 2% to... Read more »

March 6, 2014 Walmart didn’t mention competitive issues as a source of sales weakness during its fourth quarter, but reports this week from Kroger and Costco indicate they were at least a contributing factor. This was especially true in the case of Costco.  Recall that Sam’s reported a same store sales decline of 0.1% during... Read more »

March 6, 2014 In the sales versus margins battle at Costco, sales got the upper hand during the holiday season and the company’s second quarter, ended February 16. Costco managed to grow sales by 5.8% to $25.76 billion and same-store sales, excluding fuel, at U.S. clubs rose a healthy 5%.  However, in a shortened and... Read more »

March 6, 2014 Ongoing weakness at Staples’ North American retail division has resulted in the planned closure of 225 units as part of a larger expense savings program and increased emphasis on digital initiatives. The store closure announcement, part of a larger plan expected to save $500 million by the end of 2015, was announced... Read more »

March 5, 2014 Severe winter weather was unable to put a damper on Walgreen’s February sales and overall second-quarter results for the period ended February 28.  The company reported February sales of $6.1 billion, an increase of 5% compared to the same month in fiscal 2013.  Total sales for the quarter were $19.6 billion, up... Read more »

March 6, 2014 Walmart’s tepid sales performance in the fourth quarter is water under the bridge, so when Walmart U.S. CEO Bill Simon spoke this week at an investor conference he quickly focused on the growth of smaller stores, which are being expanded at a more rapid pace. Simon spoke Tuesday at the Raymond James... Read more »