Budgets/Spending/Market Size

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- Dollar General Corp. reported Wednesday that profit for the quarter ended April 29 surged 15% to $157 million, compared with $136 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 11% to $3.45 billion from $3.11 billion, beating Wall Street expectations of $3.42 billion. Same-store sales climbed 5.4%.

The discounter plans to open about 625 new stores and to remodel or relocate 550 stores in 2011. Capital expenditures are expected to be in the range of $550 million to $600 million, according to Dollar General.

New York City -- Capital spending for the retail industry is expected to increase 16% in 2011 to $42.5 billion, with all sub-segments projecting double-digit percentage increases (except for mass merchants, whose growth is projected to rise 9%), according to a survey by Equity Research.

Washington, D.C. -- Consumers are predicted to spend an average of $106.49 on Father’s Day spending this year, up from $94.32 last year, according to the National Retail Federation’s Consumer Intentions and Actions Father’s Day survey. It is the highest in the eight years the survey has been conducted.

San Francisco -- Luxury sales are expected to continue to increase through June, according to Kurt Salmon's Luxury Spending Trajectory. The proprietary index, which tracks high-income consumers' confidence and intent to spend, has been highly correlated with luxury same-store sales growth over the last five years.

Dallas -- In another sign that the luxury market is turning around faster than other retailing segments, Neiman Marcus’ third-quarter profit more than doubled.

The company's net income for the three months ended April 30 rose to $46.2 million, from $18.5 million.

Revenue rose 10% to $983.8 million, from $895.2 million last year. Same-store sales increased 9.7%.

Neiman Marcus operates 41 Neiman Marcus stores across the United States, 30 Last Call clearance stores and two Bergdorf Goodman stores in New York.

WASHINGTON — Ongoing economic challenges and high gas prices won’t put a dent in shoppers spending intentions this Father’s Day, according to new research from the National Retail Federation.

New York City -- Consumer confidence declined in May, according to the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index. The Index now stands at 60.8, down from 66.0 in April. The Present Situation Index decreased to 39.3 from 40.2. The Expectations Index declined to 75.2 from 83.2 last month.

Target and Walmart remain in what is essentially a dead heat as far as prices on food and consumables are concerned, according to the most recent study of prices in Dallas and Chicago conducted by Credit Suisse. The firm looked at a basket of 60 items across the two markets, as it does every month, and in keeping with prior comparisons, the data for April showed Target lagged Walmart by 3.4% in Chicago and 4.6% in Dallas.