Seasonal

Hhgregg president and CEO Dennis May said severe weather was one of the main factors that hampered the company’s results in the fourth quarter.

The company, which pre-released its fourth-quarter results a little more than a month ago, reported a net loss of $7.2 billion in the quarter, compared to net income of $9.9 million in the same period the prior fiscal year. Net sales dropped 10% to $538.3 million, from $597.6 million.

San Jose, Calif. – Brick-and-mortar retail sales fell 8.8% from January to April 2014 compared to the same period a year earlier. RetailNext analysis of almost 59 million specialty and larger format retail stores within the continental U.S. also shows that store traffic fell 8.2%.

Other findings include that brick-and-mortar transactions fell 9.2%, and, sales per store slipped 0.8%. However, two positive developments were an average transaction value increase of 0.5% and a 0.81% decrease in returns.

Billund, Denmark – The Lego Group opens a new Legoland Discovery Center store at Assembly Row in Somerville, Massachusetts, on May 23. The 44.000-sq.-ft. store will include two Lego rides, a 4-D cinema, and a large soft play area.

It will feature 11 attractions in total and be the sixth Legoland Discovery Center in the U.S. and 10th worldwide. The store is aimed at children ages 3-10, but minors must be accompanied by an adult.

By Evan Gold, VP of client services, Planalytics

The winter of 2014 brought record cold and snow throughout North America and its impact on business and consumer spending were widespread and significant. How impactful was it? Well, for the S&P 500 companies, the word “weather” was mentioned in almost 200 earnings calls from January through March, which is a 81% increase compared to last year.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores posted disappointing results for its first quarter, with earnings down 5% as harsh winter weather kept shoppers away. The company also gave a weak earnings forecast for its current quarter that fell short of analysts' estimates.

For the period ended April 30, Wal-Mart earned $3.59 billion, compared with $3.78 billion a year ago, less than analysts expected. In addition to the unusually harsh winter weather, a higher-than-expected tax rate also hurt earnings, the retailer said.

Walmart continues to envision flat same store sales at its U.S. stores after reporting weaker than expected profits on weak U.S. sales results that were negatively affected by a winter that wouldn’t end.

Kohl’s joins a growing list of retailers whose first-quarter results took a hit from a severe and extended winter. Despite missing estimates, the company is staying firm on its guidance for the full fiscal year.

Ottawa, Canada - Amazon.com was the predominant low-price leader in several product categories from January through early April 2014. 360pi compared the pricing strategies of the industry’s top retailers, such as Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, Costco and others, all based off of Amazon’s own product assortment relative to other retailers in power drills, televisions and outdoor gear.

At a time when sluggish-to-modest industry numbers have seemingly become the norm, and a protracted economic recovery inches forward, the recent spate of seemingly good retail and economic news has industry analysts and observers like myself raising a collective eyebrow.

New York – Macy’s Inc. beat Wall Street expectations with profits of $224 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2014, up 3.2% from $217 million in the same quarter the prior year.

Earnings rose even as sales fell 1.7% to $6.38 billion, from $6.39 billion. Same-store sales declined 0.8%. Increased operating income and decreased cost of sales helped boost net income, while severe winter weather took a toll on sales.