Research Topic

WASHINGTON — A survey released Thursday by the National Retail Federation found that nearly one third of tablet owners will use the device to purchase back-to-school items.

According to NRF’s 2011 Back-to-School and College surveys conducted by BIGresearch, consumers with smartphones and tablets will use their devices to research products, redeem coupons, look up store information, and even make purchases.

Grapevine, Texas -- GameStop Corp. reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended July 30 dropped 23% to $30.9 million, compared with $40.3 million in the year-ago period. The company cited slowing video game sales for the lackluster performance.

Revenue fell 3% to $1.74 billion, missing expectations, and same-store sales dropped 9.1%.
 

Canton, Mass. -- Casual Male Retail Group reported Thursday that second-quarter net income surged 17% to $6.6 million, compared with $5.6 million a year earlier.

Revenue increased 3.8% to $100.9 million in the period, surpassing Wall Street expectations of $99.5 million.

Chesapeake, Va. -- Dollar Tree reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended July 31 surged 21.7% to $94.9 million, compared with $78 million in the year-ago period. The rise marks the fifth straight quarter of double-digit profit increases.

Revenue rose 12% to $1.54 billion, just missing Wall Street estimates. Same-store sales increased 4.7%.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Ross Stores reported Thursday that profit for the quarter ended July 31 rose 15% to $148.3 million, compared with $129.3 million a year earlier.

Sales for the quarter increased 9% to $2.1 billion, and same-store sales rose 5%.

“Our ability to increase the percentage of fresh name brand bargains our customers see, while also strictly controlling inventories and expenses, has enabled us to capitalize on our favorable position as a value retailer," said Michael Balmuth, vice chairman and CEO.
 

Washington, D.C. -- A survey released Thursday by the National Retail Federation found that nearly one third of tablet owners will use the device to purchase back-to-school items.

According to NRF’s 2011 Back-to-School and College surveys conducted by BIGresearch, consumers with smartphones and tablets will use their devices to research products, redeem coupons, look up store information, and even make purchases.

Phoenix -- PetSmart reported Wednesday that net income for its second quarter rose 26% to $61.2 million, up from $48.4 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue increased 7% to $1.49 billion, matching Wall Street expectations.  Same-store sales grew 5%.
 

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings Corp. reported Thursday that its losses for the second quarter widened more than expected to $146 million, compared with a loss of $39 million in the year-ago period.

The operator of Sears and Kmart stores cited aggressive merchandise markdowns as one reason for the poor performance. This is the second consecutive quarterly loss of the company, and its fourth in the last five quarters.

Minneapolis -- Target Corp. reported Wednesday that earnings for the second quarter rose 3.7%, boosted by same-store sales growth and beating Wall Street expectations.

The retailer posted a profit of $704 million for the quarter ended July 30, compared with $679 million in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 4.6% to $16.24 billion, besting analysts’ expected $16.17 billion. Same-store sales rose 3.9%.

ARLINGTON, Va. — More than one-quarter of U.S. retailers lack a mobile presence, according to new research conducted by 2ergo.

Based on data collected from 161 retailers across six categories, 2ergo found that only 58% of retailers have not optimized a mobile website and just half of them are offering consumers one smartphone application for either Android, Blackberry or iPhone devices. Among them, 7% of these top retailers have launched applications for all three platforms, 2ergo noted.