Budgets/Spending/Market Size

Framingham, Mass. – The proposed $6.3 billion merger of Staples Inc. and Office Depot Inc. has cleared a global regulatory hurdle. Staples has received clearance from the Commerce Commission of New Zealand to acquire all the outstanding shares of Office Depot, which trades in New Zealand as OfficeMax.

New York – J. Crew Group is prepping for a down fiscal 2015 after a disappointing first quarter. Non-cash goodwill impairment charges and rising selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses helped significantly increase the retailer’s net loss to $462.4 million, compared to $30.1 million the first quarter of fiscal 2014.

Irving, Texas – Net income at the Michaels Companies Inc. skyrocketed 47% to $67 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 compared to $45 million in the same quarter a year earlier. A large drop in interest expense helped fuel strong profit growth.

Net sales climbed 2% to $1.08 billion, from $1.05 billion. Same-store sales rose 0.3%. Michaels said unfavorable weather and a strong U.S. dollar hindered sales growth.

Sterling, Va. – Sixty-four percent of millennial graduates shopped at Target in the last three months, according to new data by Neustar, Inc. The real-time information services and analytics provider uncovered the buying behavior insights of recent millennial graduates and their preferences.

Some insights include:

St. Louis - Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. currently expects second quarter fiscal 2015 same-store sales to increase in the low-single-digit range. The retailer issued an outlook in conjunction with its presentation at the Stephens 2015 Spring Investment Conference being held June 3.

The company also expects to report its 10th consecutive quarter of improved operating performance in the second quarter of fiscal 2015. Build-A-Bear reported an operating loss of $3.9 million in the 2014 second quarter.
 

New York -- The chief economist for the National Retail Federation on Monday released his Monthly Economic Review and the good news is that the gloomy economic indicators seen during the first half of the year will give way to brighter opportunities for economic growth during second half of year.

Mountain View, Calif. -- Consumers who use digital coupons both shop more and spend more than the average shopper. According to the  "Digital Coupon Redeemer: Shopper Trends" report, heavy digital coupon users shop 47%  more often than the average shopper, spending $6,081 annually on groceries and household goods alone – a 114% more than the national average.

Dollar General has hit another milestone, this time in the small town of Juliette, Georgia.

Dollar Tree has agreed to sell 330 of its stores to the private-equity firm Sycamore Partners in order to get regulatory approval for its $8.5 billion purchase of Family Dollar.

Sycamore Partners intends to operate the 330 stores, which represent approximately $45.5 million of operating income for Family Dollar, under the Dollar Express banner.

Arlington, Va. – As part of the Department of Energy’s ongoing efforts to increase energy efficiency in buildings across the country, the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) was recently awarded a three-year $750,000 grant to support its Retail Energy Management Program.

RILA was one of eight recipients of the DOE’s total $6 million investment.