Research Topic

Charleston, S.C. -- January post-holiday sales will plunge to some of the lowest levels in years thanks to a surge in credit card spending over the Christmas season, according to consumer research firm America’s Research Group (ARG).

"Now that those credit card bills are hitting mailboxes, shoppers will cut back in a very significant way relative to January and February of the last few years," said Britt Beemer, chairman, ARG.

Santa Ana, Calif. -- The struggling housing market, weak job growth and ongoing consumer deleveraging caused the retail market to lag other property sectors in 2011, according to Grubb & Ellis Co.’s 2012 National Real Estate Forecast, which predicts a year of slow but continued growth for all commercial real estate property sectors.

Chicago -- Thanks to a last-minute shopping rush, Christmas 2011 will likely outpace its prior-year counterpart. According to a report released Wednesday by ShopperTrak, consumers spent approximately $44 billion in GAFO retail sales for the week ending Dec. 24, a 37.8% increase over the previous week and a 14.8% gain over the same week last year.

Foot traffic was also high, increasing 32.4% from the previous week.

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- Survey results released Wednesday by customer experience analytics firm ForeSee found that Amazon has continued its trend of high customer service, while other online retail experiences suffered in 2011.

According to ForeSee’s annual Holiday E-Retail Satisfaction Index,
Amazon climbed two points to score 88 on the study’s 100-point scale, registering the highest score from any retailer in 14 consecutive studies.

New York City -- A report released Wednesday by the International Council of Shopping Centers found that a last-minute shopping surge gave merchants a solid lift during the final week before Christmas.

According to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index, same-store sales rose 0.9% for the week ended Saturday compared with the previous week. That is also up 3.4% from the week before and up 4.5% over the same period a year ago.

Washington, D.C. -- The Conference Board report, released Tuesday, found that confidence among consumers rose to an eight-month high in December, increasing to 64.5 from a revised 55.2 reading in November.

The index reading exceeded all estimates in a Bloomberg News survey and was the highest since April.

In cultural commentary about the American economy, one company at a time always seems to be the goat. Everything it does is interpreted as evil, according to a recent column by Bloomberg’s Michael Kinsley.

There were no new surprises during November regarding prices at Walmart, but then that is to be expected. The everyday low price strategy to which Walmart has a newfound adherence is boring and that’s the way the company and presumably its customers like it.

Jacksonville, Fla. -- Stein Mart Inc. reported Friday that its third-quarter loss widened after correcting for a computer problem that caused an error in prior results.

The retailer posted a revised loss of $3.1 million for the quarter, instead of the $1.8 million loss previously reported. That loss compares to a profit of $4.3 million in the year-ago quarter.
 

New York City -- Chain Store Age columnist Jeff Green, in his latest piece “On the Upswing?”, observes that there are three broad categories of retail driving the current expansion buzz.

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