Budgets/Spending/Market Size

Ankeny, Iowa -- C-store operator Casey's General Stores said Monday that profit for the quarter ended April 30 rose 4% to $22.8 million, compared with $21.9 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue surged 31% to $1.55 billion, surpassing Wall Street expectations of $1.57 billion in revenue. Same-store sales rose almost 5% on groceries and other merchandise and increased 12% on food and fountain drinks. Same-store gasoline sales fell 2% on rising prices.
 

Some companies were more aggressive with promotions last months and others were less so, but Target held steady producing the same number of circular ad pages (109) in May 2011, and it did the same month the prior year, according to data collected by the Chicago based firm Market Track.

In keeping with its renewed focus on EDLP, the average number of promotional pieces per market decreased to two in May compared with 2.8 the prior year, but the average number of pages increased to 40 compared with 30, according to the Chicago-based firm Market Track.

Springfield, N.J. -- Village Super Market reported Thursday that net income for the third quarter dropped 68% to $1.7 million, primarily due to a $4.2 million charge for the withdrawal liability from a multi-employer pension plan.

Sales grew 5.2% to $316.2 million. Same-store sales increased 4.8%.

Investment sales volume of significant retail properties totaled $5.8 billion in the first quarter of 2011, up an astounding 53% from the same period in 2010. It is important to also note that the number of properties traded increased at a slower pace – by 25% – which means that properties are trading at comparatively higher prices.

Per-square-foot pricing, at $167, is at its highest level in two years and 31% higher than the trough in second quarter 2010. Cap rates are at their lowest level since 1980 ending the quarter at 7.6%.

Atlanta -- A report released Thursday by First Data Corp. said that consumer spending growth slowed in May as concerns about the economy mounted.

According to the First Data SpendTrend analysis for the full month of May 2011, which tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations, year-over-year dollar volume growth slowed to 6.6%, the lowest monthly growth rate in 2011.

New York City -- Two private equity firms are teaming up to make a bid to purchase BJ’s Wholesale Club, the New York Post reported.

Leonard Green & Partners and CVC Capital Partners are reportedly set to offer $2.8 billion to purchase the club retailer, according to the Post.

Rumors that BJ's Wholesale could be sold have been circulating for months. In March, the chain revealed in an SEC filing that it entered into a "confidentiality agreement" with Leonard Green to evaluate a possible purchase.

Norwalk, Conn. -- Retail chief financial officers (CFOs) of U.S. middle-market companies are becoming more optimistic concerning the state of the industry, according to the latest GE Capital survey of  retail CFOs of companies with revenues ranging from $50 million to $1 billion.