Research Topic

New York -- Consumers didn’t let the heat get them down in August.

Consumer confidence rebounded in August, rising 10. 5 points to the strongest reading in seven months after having fallen sharply in July.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its index of consumer confidence rose to 101.5 in August, up from a revised July reading of 91.0. It was the best showing since January.

Cambridge, Mass. – It’s not only middle-aged women that like to browse retail stores.

Bucking demographic stereotypes that suggest men and millennials are more tech-oriented, it turns out both groups are more likely than other consumer groups to browse in-store.

At least that’s according to a new study from Adroit Digital, “Marketing to Millennials,” which found that 57% of millennials do the majority of their retail browsing in-store, close to the 61% of consumers 35 and older who are in-store browsers.

As the 10th anniversary of Hurrican Katrina approaches, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are making a commitment to disaster relief efforts.

New York -- As if retailers didn’t have enough to worry about, teens are shopping more like their parents.

Click here for the story.
 

It’s almost September, which can only mean one thing: The annual blizzard of holiday sales forecasts is about to begin, and this year eMarketer is one of the first out of the gate.

Westlake Village, Calif. – Target Corp. may be exiting the pharmacy business, but the retailer is doing so on a high note.

According to the new 2015 U.S. Pharmacy Study from J.D. Power, Target, which in June announced it would sell its pharmacy business to CVS Health for $1.9 billion and rebrand its nearly 1,700 prescription departments as CVS/pharmacy, ranked highest among mass merchandiser pharmacies.

Omaha, Neb. — Gordmans Stores Inc. was able to reduce its net loss in the third quarter of fiscal 2015 as a result of gross margin improvements. Net loss totaled $3.03 million, compared to $3.19 million the same quarter a year earlier.

Net sales increased 2% to $143.4 million from $141 million Same-store sales dropped 1.6%, negatively impacted due to a sales tax holiday shift from July to August.

Gordmans intends to open two additional new stores in the third quarter of 2015 and close one store later this year when the lease term expires.

Birmingham, Ala. – Hibbett Sports Inc. missed Wall Street expectations for profit and sales in the second quarter of fiscal 2015. Net income fell 20% to $8.4 million from $7 million the same quarter the prior fiscal year.   An increase in store operating, selling and administrative expenses helped cut profit. Net sales rose 3% to $199.26 million from $193.92 million. Same-store sales dropped 1.1%.