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March 10, 2014 For meteorologists, scientists, weathermen and millions of others, this winter has been absolutely dreadful.  And, although spring is on the horizon, much of the country is still covered in snow.  In fact, the nation’s 21st winter storm just wrapped up this past weekend. When it comes to the impact weather has on... Read more »

March 11, 2014 Following disappointing fourth-quarter sales, the Bon-Ton Stores president and CEO Brendan L. Hoffman has notified the company’s board of directors that he will not renew his employment agreement with the company when it expires February 7, 2015.  Hoffman also plans to resign as a director of the company. “I am extremely proud... Read more »

March 11, 2014 Smaller format stores are all the rage these days.  Dollar General, which already operates nearly 12,000 stores, plans to open 700 more  this year.  Walmart recently announced plans to accelerate growth of its smaller format stores by opening between 270 and 300 small stores, more than double the 120 to 150 store... Read more »

March 10, 2014 Today, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released the results of a new study, What Home Buyers Really Want: Ethnic Preferences.  The latest release from NAHB’s publishing arm, BuilderBooks is a further analysis of the 2013 study, What Home Buyers Really Want, which presented preferences of all home buyers combined.  This... Read more »

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 »