Research Topic

San Francisco -- A survey released Monday by online reservation firm OpenTable found that, when Valentine’s Day bookends a weekend, it tends to benefit restaurants.

Valentine’s Day, which falls on a Thursday this year, will likely be celebrated beyond the official day, as diners continue to celebrate over the following weekend.

The Valentine’s Day survey also found that the projected check average this year is $139, which is 63% higher than the typical OpenTable check average of $85 per couple. 

WASHINGTON — U.S. commissaries could face severe cuts if Congress fails reach a budget, leaving many military families without the benefits they rely on to make ends meet, according to the Coalition to Save Our Military Shopping Benefits.

The Journal of Shopper Research named University of Indiana business professor Raymond Burke as editor.

New York -- Australian import Lorna Jane will open the largest store in its U.S. portfolio, a 3,000-sq.-ft. unit in San Francisco, in February.
 
The retailer, which specializes in fashionable yoga clothing, opened 10 stores in Southern California in 2012, and is now expanding into the Bay Area. Lorna Jane is also looking at locations in Corte Madera, San Jose, Palo Alto and Walnut Creek, as it looks to open 15 more stores by the end of this year, the report said.

Washington -- Consumers aren’t quite ready to shell out the big bucks for their loved ones this Valentine’s Day as much as they were last year. The 2013 Valentine's Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey conducted for the National Retail Federation by BIGinsight shows only a slight increase in expected sales this year with the average person planning to spend $130.97 on candy, cards, gifts and more, up from $126.03 last year. Total spending will reach $18.6 billion.

Shopping center companies: Receive recognition for your 2012 development, acquisition and third-party management activities. The 24th annual Chain Store Age “Fastest Growing” awards will recognize the most active shopping center owners, managers and acquirers for projects, contracts and transactions completed between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012.

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid Corp. reported Thursday that same-store sales for the month of January edged up 0.3%, boosted by a 4.2% rise in front-end sales for the month along with increased prescription counts.

Total sales for the four-week period decreased 0.5% to $1.914 billion.

Amazon, which gained attention for its expanded Kindle line and growing e-commerce footprint, captured the second spot on BrandIndex's list of most buzzed about U.S. brands for 2012.

Lowe's and Target were the only traditional retailers to make the top 10. Lowe's moved up one spot to the number five position, thanks to the launch of MyLowes.com and better-equipped staff. Target captured the number seven spot with the help of its remodeling program and year-round exclusives.

Other retailers in the top 25 include Walgreens (13), Home Depot (18) and Kohl's (25).

MINNEAPOLIS — Digital coupons are increasingly being used as a marketing tool for major brands, as evidenced by the rise in such offers between 2011 and 2012.

Accoding to Kantar Media, digital couponing events across key websites increased by 46.1% in 2012 compared with 2011, and 805 manufacturers distributed digital coupon offers on these key websites during 2012, an increase of 18.9% as compared with the same period in 2011.  

Consumer confidence in January fell to its lowest point since November 2011, according to the Conference Board.

The Conference Board’s index decreased to 58.6, down from a revised 66.7 in December. The figure was lower than forecast; Bloomberg predicted a median of 64.

The drop in confidence coincides with the 2% payroll tax increase used to fund Social Security.