Budgets/Spending/Market Size

Washington, D.C. -- Consumers are set to put out all the stops this Valentine’s Day, with the average person shelling out $126.03, up 8.5% over last year, according to NRF’s 2012 Valentine’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions survey, conducted by BIGinsight. Total spending is expected to reach $17.6 billion.

Clearwater, Fla. -- Boat retailer MarineMax reported Tuesday that it narrowed its loss in the fiscal first quarter to $4.2 million, from $4.7 million in the year-ago period. The company’s net loss was reduced by $1.4 million related to favorable resolution with a manufacturer whose brands the company no longer carries.

Revenue dipped to $91.8 million for the quarter, from $92.2 million. Same-store sales edged up 2%.

Oakbrook, Terrace, Ill. -- A report released Monday by Mid-America Real Estate Corp. suggested that new shopping center construction in and around Chicago could ramp up significantly after this year.

According to the 2011-12 Chicagoland Shopping Center Report, with a 13.4% decrease in new shopping center GLA in Chicagoland last year, 2011will likely mark the bottom of a four-year decline in retail center construction. After a flat 2012, shopping center development could double in 2013, according to Andy Bulson, author of the report.
 

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. — Ahead of the toy industry's annual convention this February, The NPD Group has reported that U.S. retail sales of toys generated $21.18 billion in 2011 compared with $21.68 billion in 2010, a decline of 2%. 

It was a record year for online sales this past holiday season, but Target saw others experience stronger growth, according to the most recent site visitation statistics from online measurement firm comScore.

As previously reported, the size of the prize this holiday season was $37.2 billion. That’s the volume of online sales comScore recorded during November and December, which was a 15% increase from the prior year.

Walmart will report fourth-quarter and full-year results in a few weeks, and the numbers, while they are sure to be extraordinarily large, will pale in comparison to the superlative-defying figures that Apple posted earlier this week.

London -- A report released Thursday by the Confederation of British Industry said that U.K. retail sales fell in January at the fastest pace in almost three years, reversing an increase in December when discounting by stores drew shoppers.

The gauge of annual sales growth fell to minus 22, the lowest since March 2009, from nine in December, according to the report.

New York City -- The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index slightly dropped in December despite small improvements in three-out-of-four components.

The index — which is comprised of tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages and real home prices — fell to 1.86 from a reading of 1.93 the previous month. Because of this drop, the ability for consumers to continue to spend at the rates seen in 2011 may be in question, Deloitte said.