Budgets/Spending/Market Size

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- Dollar General Corp. reported that its fiscal third-quarter net rose 34% to $171.2 million on higher sales. The results beat Wall Street expectations and the discounter boosted its full-year earnings guidance

Revenue for the quarter ended Oct. 28, 2011, increased 12% to $3.6 billion from $3.22 billion, topping Wall Street's estimate. Same-store sales rose 6.3% as customer traffic improved and the average transaction amount rose.

Reston, Va. -- Retail e-commerce spending for the first 32 days of the November – December 2011 holiday season totaled $18.7 billion, a 15% increase versus the corresponding days last year, according to comScore.

RESTON, Va. — Online retail spending has seen a big jump this holiday season to date, according to a new report from ComScore.

According to the research firm, retail e-commerce spending for the first 32 days of the November-December 2011 holiday season saw a 15% spike to $18.7 billion, compared with the corresponding days last year. The overall spending was driven by billion-dollar spending days, including Cyber Monday, Nov. 28 ($1.25 billion), followed by Nov. 29 ($1.12 billion) and Nov. 30 ($1.03 billion).

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens reported that for November same-store sales rose 1.8% while total sales climbed 4.2% to $6.09 billion, from $5.84 billion in the year-ago period.

Comparable pharmacy sales rose 1.2%, while total pharmacy sales rose 3.4%.

Total sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2012, which ended Nov. 30, were $18.16 billion, up 4.7% from $17.34 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2011. Same-store sales increased 2.5%, while front-end comp-sales for the quarter also increased 2.5%.
 

Chicago -- More customers shopped the Sunday before Thanksgiving than the days following Black Friday, according to ShopperTrak, a leading provider of retail and mall foot-traffic counting services.

New York City -- A new report from Pike Research forecasts that LEDs will capture 52% of the commercial lighting market by 2021. Pike, a cleantech market intelligence firm, anticipates that LED lighting costs for various SSL products will be reduced by 80% to 90% in many cases during the next decade.

Everett, Wash. -- Zumiez Inc. reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended Oct. 29 rose 14.8% to $14.1 million, from $12.3 million in the prior fiscal year.

Revenue climbed 13.3% to $154 million from $135.9 million, and same-store sales grew 6%.

“We are pleased with the current pace of growth for our business and believe our product assortment has us well positioned for the remainder of the holiday selling period," said Rick Brooks, CEO.

Purchase, N.Y. -- Sales growth was strong across most retail sectors in November, with early promotional activities and additional hours giving Black Friday sales, which traditionally account for 6%-7% of November’s total sales, a boost, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, a macroeconomic report tracking national retail sales.

Among the sectors that saw an increased growth rate during November was luxury, which saw its third consecutive month of strong year-over-year growth and its second in the double digits.