Home Depot

The physical and virtual retail worlds continue to converge thanks to innovative technology, especially as consumers rapidly adopt digital solutions and apply them to their retailing experiences.

“Consumer-driven solutions are what keep customers at the epicenter of the shopping experience, and that’s what retail is all about,” said Sahir Anand, VP and research group director for Aberdeen Group, Boston.

The Holiday Shopping Season got off to a fast start with sales numbers increasing by 6.6% compared with last year, according to Shopper Trak. Promotional activity started earlier than usual and helped shoppers stay in the know as to where they could find the best deals. Leading up to Black Friday, increases were seen in print for both page counts and circular drops in many instances. In digital there were increases in volume and frequency of online, email and social promotions.  

Las Vegas -- In the latest acquisition for its Primestor-Platinum Urban Opportunity Fund I, LP, Primestor Development has acquired 4G Plaza, a neighborhood shopping center in Las Vegas, for $8.8 million.

Purchased from 4G Properties LLC, the 78,849-sq.-ft. center is anchored by El Super and shadow-anchored by The Home Depot. It is 93% leased. Other tenants include Wells Fargo, Taco Bell, Big 5 Sporting Goods and Sprint.

It seemed like such a great idea at the time. On Nov. 17, we reported that mall owner Forest City had hatched this innovative plan to monitor shopping patterns at two of its shopping centers by tracking patrons’ cell phones during the holiday 2011 season, beginning Black Friday.

ATLANTA — Atlanta-based Home Depot's wind-and-storm aided sales effort in the third-quarter presented several category highlights, according to EVP merchandising Craig Menear.

The company's strong third-quarter performance, which included a 13% net earnings increase and comp-store sales of positive 4.2%, included strength "in the core of the store" and growth in average ticket and transactions.

ATLANTA — Stormy weather around the country had something to do with Home Depot's third quarter sales gain of 2.9%. So did strength in core categories.

The world's largest home improvement retailer posted a 4.2% comp-store sales gain for the quarter ended Oct. 30. Total sales increased 2.9% to $17.326 billion. And even bigger growth came in the net earnings column, where Home Depot reported a 13.0% increase and net earnings of $934 million.

Atlanta -- Home Depot Inc. reported Tuesday that net income in the third quarter rose 12% to $934 million, compared with $834 million in the year-ago period. Storm-related repairs and spending on home projects gave the home-improvement retailer a third-quarter boost.

Revenue rose 4% to $17.33 billion from $16.6 billion last year, beating Wall Street’s expected $17.11 billion in revenue.

Same-store sales rose 4.2% globally and 3.8% in the United States.

Overall, there was a slight upward trend in both size of inserts and circulation, with a 5% increase in the number of pages per insert and 2 % increase in the average number of inserts across markets.

Chicago -- The third annual Mobile Audit, released Thursday by e-commerce and digital marketing company Acquity Group, found that mobile adoption is on the rise. In fact, the percentage of retailers with a mobile site reached 37% in 2011, up from 12% in 2010 and only 4% in 2009 – a 210% increase over the past year alone.