Research Topic

Chelmsford, Mass. -- Kronos on Monday announced the release of its Retail Labor Index, which showed a February increase to 4.2% from 3.85% in January. (This metric is defined as the percentage of job applications that result in a hiring, normalized within a scale of 0 to 100. A level of 3.0% means that for every 100 applications received, three hirings occurred.)

February’s metric is the highest the Index has been since August 2008 when it reached 4.45%, according to Kronos.

Friday was to be something of a special occasion in Northwest Arkansas, until extreme winter weather forced a change of plans. Word arrived yesterday that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner would not be visiting the area as originally planned, but the visit was postponed rather than cancelled, and he would be rescheduling the visit. Originally, he was scheduled to meet with regional business leaders to discuss how government and the private sector can work together to out-innovate the competition and grow the economy, according to a Treasury press release.

LOS ANGELES —  According to PriceGrabber survey on consumer purchasing decisions for Valentine's Day, 52% of Valentine’s Day shoppers indicate that the economy will not have any effect on their purchasing decisions for Valentine’s Day 2011. Despite their confidence in the economy, 78% of survey respondents indicate they will not spend more money on Valentine’s Day shopping this year compared with last year. The remaining 22% of consumers plan to spend more on Valentine’s Day shopping this year.

RESTON, Va.  -- According to comScore's Q4 2010  U.S. retail e-commerce sales estimates, online retail spending reached a record $43.4 billion for the quarter, up 11% versus year ago. This growth rate represented the fifth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and second quarter of double-digit growth rates in the past year.

New York City -- January saw strong growth across most retail categories, continuing the positive performance from fourth quarter 2010, albeit at a slightly slower pace, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, a report on national retail and services sales that is based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments network and survey-based estimates for other payment forms, such as cash and check.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Big Lots announced that  fourth quarter retail sales for the fiscal quarter ended Jan. 29 were $1.5 billion, an increase of 3.8% compared with $1.451.5 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009.  

Comparable-store sales were flat for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010, which is consistent with the low end of the company's previously communicated guidance of flat to an increase of 2%. 

From a merchandising perspective, furniture, home, and seasonal were the best performing categories, the company reported.

WASHINGTON -- The National Retail Federation announced that it has promoted Carleen Kohut, who has served as NRF SVP and CFO for the past ten years, to COO, as part of board-approved restructuring plan. Additionally, Susan Newman, VP conferences, has been promoted to SVP conferences and Mike Gatti, formerly SVP communications, has been named SVP member relations.

Walmart SVP brand marketing Tony Rogers was recently added to the program at the Symphony IRI Group’s annual summit to be held this year in Miami on March 28 to 30. Rogers will join Univision Communications EVP corporate research, Elizabeth Ellers, for a presentation titled, “Making Hispanics Your Competitive Advantage at Retail.”

From a licensed product sales standpoint it doesn’t get much better than having the Pittsburgh Steelers and Greenbay Packers squaring off this Sunday in Super Bowl XLV. Both teams are storied franchises, and although they are from relatively small markets, enjoy a national following, which means plenty of shoppers have been out looking to acquire fresh gear for the big game and will be looking to do so in the weeks following the game.

Retail sales during January offered a mix bag of results and made it rather tricky to determine how much results were influenced by harsh winter weather, gift card redemption rates, a still shaky economic recovery and individual company strategies.