Budgets/Spending/Market Size

New York -- Retailers’ growth plans are running about 5% ahead of year-ago projections, according to ChainLinks Retail Advisors’ Spring 2012 Retailer and Restaurant Expansion Guide.

Plenty of televisions in Northwest Arkansas will be tuned to CNBC the evening of April 26. That’s when the financial news network airs a one-hour special called, “The Costco Craze: Inside the Warehouse Giant.”

CNBC has turned its cameras on Walmart in the past, twice actually, and more recently Best Buy and Target. Previews for the show on Costco promise to uncover the science and secrets behind the Costco craze.

Washington, D.C. -- Figures released Thursday by the Labor Department showed that more Americans than forecast filed applications for jobless benefits last week, reinforcing concern that the labor-market recovery will be slow to develop.

Consumer confidence, however, has held up, as the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index was minus 32.8 in the period ended April 8, second only to the prior week’s minus 31.4 as the highest since March 2008.

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid Corp. reported Thursday that it narrowed its loss in the fourth quarter to $163.8 million, from a loss of $205.7 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 10.7% to $7.15 billion from $6.46 billion, beating Wall Street’s expected $7.12 billion in revenue. Same-store sale increased 3%.

For the full year, Rite Aid reported a loss of $368.6 million and revenues of $26.1 billion.

New York -- A report released Thursday by Deloitte found that consumer spending posted an increase in March, reversing a trend of declines.

The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index climbed higher in March, marking only the third monthly increase over the past 12 months. The Index tracks consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending.

Washington, D.C. -- Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 3.2% in April compared with the same month last year, and year-over-year gains should continue through the end of summer, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

“Retailers are continuing to watch rising gas prices, but job gains and other indicators show the economy is strengthening,” NRF VP for supply chain and customs policy Jonathan Gold said.

Armonk, N.Y. -- An IBM analytics-based forecast released Thursday expects that sales of home furnishings in the United States will shoot higher in the second quarter, with in-store sales increasing nearly 8% to $23.2 billion and online sales increasing 28.4%.

Combined in-store and online sales of home furnishings are expected to grow 16.6% in the second quarter.

New York -- In-store convenience store sales grew 2.4%, reaching a record $195.0 billion in 2011, according to data released Wednesday by NACS (National Association of Convenience Stores). Combined with $486.9 billion in gasoline sales, total convenience store sales in 2011 were $681.9 billion.

More than 80% of in-store sales are from five categories: cigarettes (38.1% of in-store sales); foodservice (16.9%); packaged beverages (14.3%); beer (7.3%); other tobacco products (4.0%).

Beaumont, Texas -- Conn’s Inc. reported Tuesday that it earned $7.7 million in the quarter ended Jan. 31, compared with a loss of $3.6 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue increased 3.7% to $226.7 million, beating Wall Street’s expected $221.4 million. Same-store sales surged 12.1%.
   
The company said it is on track with its store opening plans, which calls for five to seven stores in new markets this year.

J.C. Penney is in the very beginning of its transformation. But the first component of the strategy — a new pricing model that jettisoned hundreds of promotions in favor a three-tier model — in already in place. And not surprisingly, experts are weighing in.