Seasonal

Washington, D.C. -- Father’s Day may not be the most lucrative consumer holiday of the year for retailers. However, according to the new National Retail Federation (NRF) 2015 Father’s Day Spending Survey, spending on Father’s Day is expected to reach $12.7 billion. The survey, conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, indicates the average person will spend $115.57 on gifts, nearly even with $113.80 in 2014.

San Jose, Calif. – Retail sales dropped 7.6% in May 2015 compared to the same month the prior year. According to the monthly Store Performance Pulse from store analytics provider RetailNext, a 9.8% decrease in traffic and 8.3% drop in transactions drove the sales decline.

Much of these declines were concentrated in the third week of the month, leading to an earlier-than-usual Memorial Day weekend.

The Mother's Day holiday drove up traffic at L Brands, which reported a surge in same store sales for May.

The company reported that net sales increased 5% to $799.1 million for the four weeks ended May 30, compared to net sales of $763.6 million for the four weeks ended May 31, 2014. Same store sales for the four weeks ended May 30, increased 5%.

New York – Same-store sales generally showed modest growth in May 2015, on the whole meeting Wall Street analyst expectations. The apparel vertical in particular generally outperformed analyst predictions, although Gap, Banana Republic and Zumiez all reported negative same-store sales growth.

Following is a review of May same-store sales by vertical:

Apparel
Banana Republic: – 5%
The Buckle: 2.4%
Gap: – 6%
L Brands: 5%
Old Navy: 6%
Stein Mart: 1.9%

Retailers planning their assortments for the holidays should get excited about a slew of new and innovative toy offerings from Disney.

Disney Consumer Products says it is joining together connected toys and wearable technology to put kids at the center of the world’s greatest stories from Disney, Marvel and Star Wars. A new system of toys and wearables from Disney will use smart technology to inspire kids to run around and use their imaginations, as they become the hero or heroine of stories from across the Walt Disney Company.

Irving, Texas – Net income at the Michaels Companies Inc. skyrocketed 47% to $67 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 compared to $45 million in the same quarter a year earlier. A large drop in interest expense helped fuel strong profit growth.

Net sales climbed 2% to $1.08 billion, from $1.05 billion. Same-store sales rose 0.3%. Michaels said unfavorable weather and a strong U.S. dollar hindered sales growth.

New York -- The chief economist for the National Retail Federation on Monday released his Monthly Economic Review and the good news is that the gloomy economic indicators seen during the first half of the year will give way to brighter opportunities for economic growth during second half of year.

Big Lots continued to see positive results from the steps it has taken to improve its business in the first quarter, with the retailer posting increases in profit and sales.

Same store sales rose by 1.6% in the first quarter ended May 2, reflecting better performance in its remaining stores, and income from continuing operations jumped by 13% to $32.3 million, producing earnings of $0.60 per share, beating estimates by a penny.