Budgets/Spending/Market Size

New York -- Sally Beauty Holdings Inc.’s second-quarter earnings decreased 4.3% amid sluggish sales. The company earned $64.9 million in the quarter ended March 31, compared with $67.8 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 1% to $898.2 million from $889.3 million in the year-ago period.

Same-store sales were down 0.8%.

Gary Winterhalter, chairman, president and CEO says that the quarter's performance reflected in part lower traffic fueled by two fewer days compared with the prior year quarter.

Los Angeles – Shoppers are setting a budget for Mother’s Day spending this year, according to a new survey from PriceGrabber. Results of the 2013 Mother’s Day Survey show that 52% of consumers plan to spend less than $100 on Mother’s Day gifts, with flowers the most popular gift selection.

The survey of 6,824 US online shopping consumers also shows that 23% of shoppers will spend $100-$249, while 12% will spend more than $250 and 13% do not have a budget in mind.
 

LAKELAND, Fla. — Publix posted first quarter sales of $7.5 billion, representing a 6.1% increase. The Easter holiday in the first quarter of 2013, which was in the second quarter of 2012, increased sales by approximately 1.3%, the grocer noted. 

Comparable-store sales for the first quarter of 2013 increased 3.9%.

Los Angeles -- Mother's Day spending will be nearly flat this year as more Americans return to work and have less spare time, according to a new report by market research firm IBISWorld.

The report forecast a 0.2% rise in purchases on Mother's Day gifts this year over last year, for a total of $17.1 billion.

MINNEAPOLIS — Best Buy is leaving the European market. The company is selling its stake in a joint European venture with U.K.-based consumer electronics retailer Carphone Warehouse Group PLC for cash and stock worth about $775 million USD.

Best Buy Co. will also pay Carphone 29 million pounds (about $45 million) related to existing agreements that will be terminated when the deal closes. The U.S. retailer also said that it will incur an approximately $200 million asset impairment charge related to the stake sale.

Moms are in for a special treat this Mother’s Day, May 12, according to a survey conducted by the National Retail Federation, but another survey conducted by IBISWorld has found that Mother’s Day spending growth will be flat this year compared to last year.

NRF’s Mother’s Day spending survey conducted by BIGinsight has found consumers will spend an average of $169 on mom, up 11% from last year’s $153. Total spending is expected to reach $21 billion.

Taylor, Mich.-based Masco Corp. reported first-quarter net sales of $1.88 billion, up 3.9% from the same quarter last year.

Net income for the giant manufacturer of home improvement and building products was $47 million, up from $33 million in the prior-year quarter. 

New York -- Multibillion dollar transactions drove U.S. retail and consumer deals during the first quarter of 2013, according to PwC US.

For the three month period ending March 31, 2013, there were a total of 27 deals in the retail and consumer sector with disclosed values greater than $50 million, accounting for $39.8 billion in deal value. Deal volume increased 59% from the 17 deals during the first quarter 2012, while deal value rose 590% from $5.8 billion in first quarter 2012.