Budgets/Spending/Market Size

Atlanta – Home furnishings retailer Havertys is on a roll. Sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2015 increased 7% to $187.7 million from $175.1 million a year earlier, and the company plans to open a new store in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the third quarter.  

Same-store sales for the quarter increased 4.8%. Total written sales increased 5% and written same-store sales increased 2.4%. Havertys also plans to complete two store renovations in the third quarter.
 

Framingham, Mass. – There are a lot of things parents look for when doing back-to-school shopping, but as Randy Newman once sang, it’s money that matters.

A new online survey of parents of children ages 8-18, commissioned by Staples and conducted by Harris Poll, finds that price is the top consideration for 86% of these parents when buying school supplies.   

Highlights of Staples 2015’ Back-to-School Parents Survey include:

Los Angeles – It may be hard to believe, but many members of the ballyhooed millennial generation (defined by the U.S. Census as born between 1982 and 2000) are now moms. To reach millennial moms, new data released by beacon proximity platform inMarket suggests retailers should use beacon and proximity-based engagement platforms.

Los Angeles - Although summer vacations have just begun for many schoolchildren, parents already have back-to-school shopping on their minds.

According to the new Consumer Pulse survey of parents with kids in grades K-12 and college from Rubicon Project, 56% of respondents said they plan to spend more money per child than they did last year to prepare the students for the upcoming school year.

Although summer vacations have just begun for many schoolchildren, parents already have back-to-school shopping on their minds.

Ottawa, Canada – Home Depot is narrowing its price gap with Amazon.com, which typically offers the lowest overall prices on home improvement goods.

 According to a recent study from pricing analytics provider 360pi, “Building Up to Home Improvement Season,” Home Depot was the most aggressively priced home improvement “category killer,” with an average price of just more than 5% above Amazon, narrowing down to around 3% above Amazon by the end of the sampled period (May 1 – June 16, 2015).

New York -- The top state for business is a high-tax, high-wage, union-friendly, cold-climate state, according to an annual ranking by CNBC.
 

New York -- The off-price segment is on fire, but newcomers to the sector should watch out, warns a report by Moody’s Investors Service.

The U.S. off-price apparel and home products segment continues to grow rapidly as consumers who developed a taste for cheaply priced luxury goods during the recession keep up their hunt for bargains, Moody's Investors Service said in a new report.

Cincinnati -- Consumers, especially millennials, are willing to ante up for fee-based loyalty programs.

In a survey by LoyaltyOne, 62% of respondents said they’d consider joining a fee-based rewards program if their favorite retailer offered one. The number was even higher among millennials with 75% of 18-24 year-olds and 77% of 25-34 year-olds saying they’d consider joining a fee-based rewards program.

Fireworks sales are expected to reach a record level this year and while reported injuries have declined seeking medical treatment is still a Fourth of July tradition for many.

The American Pyrotechnics Association (APA) forecasts that consumer fireworks sales will reach a record level this year. Backyard fireworks have never been more popular or in more demand, according to APA, and despite the sluggish economy sales grew from $600 million in 2006 to $662 million in 2013.