Research Topic

Washington, D.C. -- A Thursday report by Bloomberg said that consumer confidence last week capped the worst quarterly performance in more than two years, when the U.S. economy was still in a recession.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose to minus 50.2 in the week ended Oct. 2, from the prior period’s minus 53 that was the second-lowest level on record. The gauge averaged minus 48.4 from July through September, the third-worst quarterly reading of all time and the weakest since minus 49.9 in the first three months of 2009.

Arlington, Va. -- A report released Thursday by the Retail Industry Leaders Association found significant increases in shoplifting and pharmacy theft, in particular. According to RILA’s 2011 Crime Trends and Leading Practices Survey, more than half of respondents reported an increase in the frequency with which organized rings committed shoplifting, and 41% saw an increase in shoplifting by individuals acting alone.

Sixty-four percent of respondents reported an increase in theft of pharmaceutical products.

New York City -- Costco Wholesale Corp. turned in a strong September performance, recording a 12% rise in same-store sales for the month.

Target Corp., helped by strong sales of groceries, beauty products and clothing, saw September same-store sales rise 5.3%. Sales for the period rose 6.5% to $5.9 billion.

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Thursday by the National Retail Federation predicted an average holiday shopping season. According to the NRF forecast, holiday retail sales for 2011 are expected to increase 2.8% to $465.6 billion. While that growth is far lower than the 5.2% increase retailers experienced last year, it is slightly higher than the 10-year average holiday sales increase of 2.6%, according to NRF.

New York City -- Despite ongoing concerns about the economy, retailers fared surprisingly well in September, helped by the tail end of back-to-school shopping and cooler temperatures.

PORT WASHINGTON — The NPD Group has some good news for retailers worried about weak video game sales this holiday season. According to a survey of spending habits in the second quarter of 2011, in addition to the $1.44 billion spent in the U.S. by consumers on new physical video and PC game software in the second quarter of 2011, the total consumer spend on content via other monetization methods, including used games, game rentals, subscriptions, digital full-game downloads, social network games, downloadable content, and mobile games, is estimated at $1.74 billion.

NEW YORK — Global information services company Nielsen announced the passing of one of its former executives.

Arthur C. "Art" Nielsen, Jr., 92, helped Nielsen create such innovations as consumer and performance surveys, market share, department and food index and television ratings, during his tenure as chairman and president. Nielsen's father, Arthur C. Nielsen, founded the company in 1923. Nielsen, Jr., joined the company in 1945 and retired in 1983, according to the New York Times.

Duluth, Ga. -- A majority of U.S. consumers believe that self-service technologies such as self-checkout and kiosks improve the store experience, with almost half of younger shoppers preferring to use self-checkout in stores, according to a new survey by The NPD Group for NCR Corp.

Arlington, Va. -- The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) applauded House Education and the Workforce Chairman Jon Kline for the introduction of the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act and urged for its speedy passage.

The legislation comes in response to efforts by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to impose several components of the job-killing Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), a priority of organized labor that failed to gain support in Congress.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreen Co. said Wednesday that its sales increased 5.4% in September, to $5.95 billion from $5.65 billion in the year-ago period.

Pharmacy revenue rose 4.6%, while front end sales were up 5.1%.

Same-store sales rose 3.1%. Wall Street analysts were expecting growth of 4.6%.