Research Topic

Mountain View, Calif. – Move over mom, baseball and apple pie. The new three things everyone loves are iPhone, Apple and retail.

According to a new survey of global English-speaking consumers in 84 countries, the “NetBase Brand Passion Report,” iPhone is the most-loved brand in the world. Apple comes in at number three. And retail and Apple dominate the rest of the top 10 brands, which are Etsy (4th), iPad (5th), MacBook Air (6th), Starbucks (7th), Chipotle (9th) and McDonald’s (10th).

Express is going full-steam ahead with its outlet-store strategy, with plans to open 30-plus stores in 2015. The retailer ended the year with 41 outlet stores in operation.

“Together they generated approximately $55 million of incremental revenue, far surpassing our initial estimate,” said Paul Dascoli, senior VP and CFO, Express, on the chain’s quarterly earnings call. Express is expanding its outlet store division both through new construction and conversions.

Freeport, Maine – L.L. Bean Inc. intends to almost triple its store count by 2020. In an internal company memo distributed Wednesday, March 11, L.L. Bean told employees it will open four stores in 2015 and at least 100 by 2020.

Currently, L.L. Bean operates 26 stores and 10 outlets in the U.S. The retailer does not have any stores west of Colorado, but plans to open new stores in the Pacific Northwest. All new stores will be full-price locations. The memo was signed by CEO Chris McCormack, who plans to retire in 2016.

After five consecutive quarters of declining same-store sales, teen retailer the Buckle may be coming out of its slump.

The Nebraska-based company reported net sales of $353.5 million, 4.3% higher than the year-ago quarter. Same store sales grew 1.1%. Net income rose by about 1.3% to $60.1 million, producing earnings of $1.25 per share, ahead of analysts’ estimates.

Washington, D.C. – The long winter chill put a damper on consumer spending and retail sales in February. According to data from the National Retail Federation (NRF), excluding automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants, retail sales declined 0.2% seasonally-adjusted month-to-month, yet were up 3% on an unadjusted year-over-year basis.

Additional findings from NRF’s monthly retail sales analysis found that:

Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers:
• -2.3% month-to-month

Goodlettsville, Tenn. -- Dollar General Corp. is not sitting back while rivals Family Dollar and Dollar Tree prepare to merge. Following its failed bid to acquire Family Dollar, Dollar General has accelerated its expansion plans for 2015. The discounter, which already has the retail industry’s most aggressive new store strategy said it will open 730 new stores and remodel 875 existing locations in 2015, translating into a 6% increase in total square footage. And looking ahead, Dollar General plans to grow its square footage by 7% in 2016.

New York - Nearly 80% of all businesses fail their interim PCI compliance assessment, leaving them vulnerable to cyberattacks. According to Verizon’s 2015 PCI Compliance Report, 69% of all consumers are less inclined to do business with a breached organization, making compliance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) critical.

Walmart Executive Vice President of Global Customer Insights and Analytics Cindy Davis has been confirmed as a featured speaker for IRI’s upcoming Summit.