Seasonal

ISSAQUAH, Washington — Wedding season is here, and future brides who want to score a high-fashion gown, without spending their entire wedding budget, may soon be flocking to Costco. Beginning this month and continuing through August, select Costco stores throughout the country will hold special four-day trunk shows featuring the wedding gowns of designer Kirstie Kelly.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.  — Sears announced that it is launching its fourth annual Heroes at Home spring renovation campaign with Rebuilding Together, a nonprofit working to preserve affordable homeownership. Sears said that with the help of Rebuilding Together, it expects to renovate more than 300 homes across the country as part of the Heroes at Home program, which aims to improve American military families' lives by making necessary repairs, improvements or modifications to their homes.

On average, across the retailer set, number of inserts decreased slightly while the number of pages increased on a year-over-year basis for the month of April. When reviewing front page category share of voice, candy experienced a strong increase in April 2011 compared with the same month in the prior year. This is no surprise as Easter fell later in the month in 2011, giving retailers the opportunity to advertise this category for more weeks throughout the month than in 2010. Other categories with notable increases in 2011 versus 2010 include household cleaning, digital TVs and toys.

The Walmart Visitor Center in downtown Bentonville is set to reopen on May 21 after undergoing extensive renovations, which means the new facility will be able to accommodate the thousands of Walmart employees who will descend on the town for the company’s annual meeting on June 3.

New York City -- Retailers reported strong April sales that were boosted by the late Easter holiday, which fell on April 24, three weeks later than last year. Same-store sales rose 8.9% at the 25 retailers tracked by Thomson Reuters, compared with expectations for an 8.2% increase. But the good news was tempered as retailers acknowledged that shoppers are under increasing pressure from rising gas prices and other cost increases.

NEW YORK — Apparel retailers across the board experienced strong sales gains in April, thanks in large part to the inclusion of Easter in this year’s reporting period, leading many to raise their quarterly earnings guidance.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Big 5 Sporting Goods reported that for the fiscal 2011 first quarter, net sales were $221.1 million, compared with net sales of $218.5 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2010. Same-store sales decreased 0.9% for the first quarter of 2011 versus the comparable period in the prior year. This compares to a same-store sales increase of 2.4% in the first quarter of 2010.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens said its same-store sales rose 3.4% in April. But analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected, on average, that revenue at those stores had risen 3.6%.

Walgreen said pharmacy comp-store sales were up 1.8%, below analysts' estimate of 2.4%. The company said the results were hurt by 1.9 percentage points because of a calendar shift and the move of the allergy drug Allegra from prescription to over-the-counter status.