Research Topic

Seattle – Starbucks has enacted small increases in the prices of less than one-third of its beverages in select markets. The increases, which average about 1%, affect smaller sizes of brewed coffee, tea, latte and espresso drinks. Larger venti- and grande-sized drinks will not have their prices changed.

Sales in the convenience store industry advanced 2.7% during 2012, well below a prior year gain of 18.5%, as meaningful economic growth hampered results.

New York - A report released by Bloomberg on Tuesday said that confidence among American consumers in June surpassed expectations, climbing to the highest level in more than five years.

The Conference Board’s index rose to 81.4, beating Bloomberg forecasts of 75.1 and reaching the highest point since January 2008. The index reached 74.3 in May. 

North Plainfield, N.J. -- A cooler start to spring and mixed-bag of Memorial Day weekend weather in the Northeast may have contributed to less than expected year-to-date sales and traffic for some retailers, according to Levin Management’s annual mid-year Retail Sentiment Survey, which polled retailers in the firm’s 90-property, 12.5 million-square-foot shopping center portfolio.
 

Austin, Texas – Slightly more than half of consumers (51%) said they would be more likely to buy something in-store if they received a coupon on their mobile device for that store while nearby, according to a recent mobile commerce survey from RetailMeNot and The Omnibus Company. The survey of 1,067 U.S. residents age 18 and older conducted in April 2013 also revealed:

Seattle – Six-in-10 U.S. homeowners plan to make a home improvement or addition this summer, according to the Zillow Digs Summer Home Improvement Trend and Spending Survey. Zillow cites tight housing inventory and the fact that more than 25% of homeowners in the U.S. owe more on their mortgage than their property is worth as driving factors in the popularity of home-improvement projects.

New York -- A report released Thursday by Bloomberg said that consumer sentiment climbed during the week ended June 16 to minus 29.4, compared with minus 31.3 a week earlier and representing a lift after a two-month low. In fact, according to the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, Americans’ views on the economy were the least pessimistic in five years.

The monthly Bloomberg consumer economic expectations gauge for June held at minus 1, matching May’s reading as the best this year.

Grants worth $14 million to five nonprofit groups will provide nutritional education and help feed 1.7 million hungry kids this summer and next.

Now that Walmart U.S. derives more than 66% of its sales from food, consumables and health and wellness related categories, Kroger is more of an immediate threat than Amazon.

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation welcomed today’s announcement that the Federal Trade Commission plans to investigate patent trolls. 

“Patent trolls are a drain on the economy,” NRF SVP and general counsel Mallory Duncan said. “It’s time for Washington to put an end to this abuse of our nation’s laws. Seeing this issue receive top-level attention from the FTC is a significant development.”