Research Topic

New York -- Simple demographic targeting does not weight advertising exposures toward households that have greater purchasing value, according to a study by Catalina Marketing released Monday. The study shows that, for a cross-section of major consumer brands, an average of just 15% of television ad exposures reach the households that account for 80% of sales. Meanwhile, brand advertisers deliver 64% of exposures to households that account for just 2% of sales.

New York -- New York City metro area retailer Daffy’s is going out of business. The discount apparel chain will close all of its 19 stores (eight of which are in Manhattan) this fall, according to various reports.

The closings are not totally unexpected. In June, Crain’s New York Business reported that Daffy’s was having trouble paying its vendors.

New York -- Retail sales fell 0.5% in June, the Commerce Department said on Monday, as consumer spending declined for the third consecutive month. The drop, which followed a 0.2% decrease in May, was unexpected as many economists were expecting growth.

Falling gas prices were attributed to some of the weakness. But even excluding sales at gas stations, retail spending fell 0.3% in June. Economists said weak job growth was making consumers cautious and eating away at consumer confidence.

By David Asselin, [email protected]

NEW YORK — It seems that traditional grocery stores and established food brands may lose their position in the market due to a confluence of changing demographics, economic factors and customer preferences, according to new research from global investment bank Jefferies and global business advisory firm AlixPartners.

New York -- Consumer confidence unexpectedly declined in July to the lowest level this year as Americans over concerns about the economy, Bloomberg reported.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment dropped to 72 this month from June’s 73.2 reading. The metric was projected to rise to 73.5, according to a economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
 

Orlando, Fla. -- Darden Restaurants announced that it has agreed to acquire Yard House USA, Inc. for $585 million in an all-cash transaction from private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners LLC. Yard House operates 39 restaurants in 13 states.

The brand will become part of Darden's Specialty Restaurant Group, which includes The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52 and Eddie V's.

London -- Hong Kong is the world’s most expensive retail destination, with retail rents at $3,864 per square foot, according to the quarterly rankings of global retail rents from global property advisor CBRE Group. CBRE cited the city’s significant inbound tourist traffic and continued increases in domestic wealth as fueling demand from international fashion and luxury retailers.
 

That’s not exactly the question a couple college professors ask in a new booked called, “The Physics of Business,” but it might as well have been. The authors suggest the forces of scale and efficiency are trumping innovation at U.S. companies of which Walmart is the largest.

No Wonder Walmart’s U.S. sales are on the upswing. Kantar’s Marx media solutions group this week in its mid-year report noted free standing insert pages for Walmart increased nearly 82% to 2.5 billion pages during the first half of the year.