Budgets/Spending/Market Size

Sunbury, Pa. -- Weis Markets reported Thursday that net income for fiscal 2010 increased 8.7% to $68.3 million, compared with $62.8 million in the prior year.

Sales for the year increased 4.1% to $2.6 billion. Same-store sales edged up 1.0%.

Weis Markets currently operates 164 stores in its home state of Pennsylvania and in Maryland, New York, New Jersey and West Virginia.

Woonsocket, R.I. -- CVS Caremark Corp. reported Thursday that profit for the fourth quarter fell 2%. The company cited client losses and fewer Medicare prescription drug program members for the lackluster performance.

Net income declined to $1.03 billion, compared with $1.05 billion in the year-ago period. Revenue fell 4% to $24.77 billion. Wall Street expected $24.98 billion in revenue.

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. -- Whirlpool Corporation announced fourth-quarter net earnings of $171 million, or $2.19 per diluted share, compared with $95 million, or $1.24 per diluted share reported during the same period last year.  Fourth-quarter adjusted diluted earnings per share totaled $2.11 compared with $1.67 in the prior year.  Sales of $5 billion increased 4% from the fourth quarter of 2009.

Fourth-quarter operating profit totaled $202 million compared with $199 million in the prior year.  

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Tuesday by the National Restaurant Association said that restaurant industry sales are expected to reach a record $604 billion and post positive growth in 2011 after a three-year period of negative real sales growth.

The Association’s 2011  Restaurant Industry Forecast projects an industry sales increase of 3.6% over 2010 sales, which equals 1.1% in real (inflation-adjusted) terms.

A monthly pricing survey conducted by Credit Suisse in December shows that Walmart remains the lowest price on a basket of 60 products across two major markets, Target is closer than ever and is actually less expensive for those who take advantage of the 5% Rewards program.

A lack of disclosure among retailers regarding their online operations makes it challenging to understand what went on online this past holiday season. While comScore reported it was a record year from a sales perspective with November and December sales advancing 12% to $32.6 billion, data from the online measurement firm also showed that most major retailers saw fewer unique visitors to their websites in December 2010 than during the same month the prior year.

Washington — U.S. consumer spending rose more than expected in December as Americans spent at the fastest pace in three years. The Commerce Department reported that spending rose 0.7% in December, the sixth straight monthly increase.

For all of 2010, consumers boosted spending 3.5%, the best performance since pre-recession 2007, when spending rose 5.2%. The government reported that consumer spending rose at a 4.4% rate in the final three months of 2010.

Richardson, Texas -- Wingstop is expanding throughout the Baltimore-Washington corridor. The company, which has experienced more than seven years of same store sales increases, recently signed a development agreement to open 20 stores in the area over the next several years.

Business partners Rahim Kurji and Bidjaan Kassam have signed a 20-store development agreement and expect to open four locations in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., this year.

Atlanta-based Newell Rubbermaid used the term "growth trifecta" to describe its 2010 performance -- strong sales, strong margins and strong earnings.

The company reported fourth quarter net income of $75.7 million, up 24.9% from $60.6 million reported for the same period last year.

Sales for the quarter ended Dec. 31 were $1.46 billion, up 3.4% from $1.42 billion reported for the same period in 2009. 

For the full year, the company reported net income of $292.8, up % from $285.5 reported in 2009.

Camp Hill, Pa. — Rite Aid on Thursday morning posted a same-store sales increase of 1.1% for the four weeks ended Jan. 22, including a 2.2% lift across the front-end and growth of 0.6% in pharmacy comparable sales.

Prescription count at comparable stores was flat compared with the prior-year period.

Total drug store sales were $1.9 billion, which is flat as compared with the same period last year. Prescription revenue accounted for 69.1% of drug store sales, and third-party prescription revenue represented 93.3% of pharmacy sales.