Budgets/Spending/Market Size

WASHINGTON — NRF reported that total back-to-school spending on grades K to 12 is expected to reach $22.8 billion. According to NRF’s 2011 Back-to-School survey conducted by BIGresearch, families with children in grades K to 12 will spend an average of $603.63 on apparel, school supplies and electronics, within a few dollars of last year’s $606.40 average. 

Cleveland -- Sherwin Williams Co. reported Thursday that profit for the second quarter fell 1% to $179.1 million, compared with $181.7 million in the year-ago period.

The paint company cited higher raw material costs and increased expenses for the performance slip.

Revenue rose 10% to $2.35 billion from $2.14 billion, missing Wall Street expectations of $2.41 billion. Same-store sales increased 4%.
 

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway Inc. reported net income of $145.8 million, or 41 cents per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2011 compared with $141.3 million, or 37 cents per diluted share for the second quarter of 2010.

The company reported that total sales increased 7.1% to $10.2 billion in the second quarter of 2011 from $9.5 billion in the second quarter of 2010. Identical-store sales, excluding fuel saw a 0.5% increase.

North Plainfield, N.J. -- Results of a survey released Tuesday by shopping center owner Levin Management Corp. showed that, while store sales remain relatively flat, the majority of its retail tenants are optimistic about the balance of 2011.

Baltimore -- A white paper released Tuesday by marketing communications firm Vertis Communications, entitled “power2thewomen2.0: the Shopping Trend Revolution Continues,” revealed that women wield formidable purchasing power, controlling approximately $5 trillion in spending annually, but that how they interact with retailers and marketers differs greatly.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway on Monday announced that its monthlong prostate cancer campaign raised nearly $10.1 million as part of the company’s ongoing effort to fund research geared toward finding a cure for the leading cancer affecting men.

Chemsford, Mass. -- Fewer people applied for jobs in the retail sector in June, according to the July Kronos Retail Labor Index.  The July report includes data for June 2011.

The number of applications received by retailers in the Kronos sample fell sharply in June 2011, to just 900,164 from a revised 1,149,879 in May, all on a seasonally adjusted basis. This was the lowest number of applications received since November 2007 and nearly 17%  below its level one year ago. 

Shares of Target may hit $100 six or seven years from now, but looking ahead to next year Morgan Stanley analyst Mark Wiltamuth believes the stock should be trading at $64. He recently initiated coverage of the company with a “buy” rating and, like some other analysts, believes investors may be seeing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to purchase shares at valuation levels depressed by uncertainty around the company’s entry into Canada.