FINANCE

After two years of benefitting from gasoline price tailwinds, still-stressed consumers will generate only a sluggish 3.3% year-over-year increase in this year’s back-to-school sales, according to Customer Growth Partners’ 14th Annual BTS Forecast.    Total BTS sales for the season will reach $540 billion — a new record, but the lackluster 3.3% growth represents a marked slowdown from the 4%-plus BTS growth seen in both 2014 and 2015, when sales were boosted by declining gasoline prices.  

A shift in the timing of a major holiday was cause for celebration at home furnishings retailer Havertys Furniture Companies Inc.   Sales in the second quarter of fiscal 2016 at Havertys rose 4% to $194.8 million, from $187.7 million the same period a year earlier. Same-store sales increased 2.8%. Written total and same-store sales for the second quarter both rose 6%.  

Two mid-sized U.S. and Canadian chains are joining forces to create the third-largest pet specialty retailer and the largest small format, neighborhood specialty pet retailer in North America   Pet Valu and Pet Supermarket have merged to create a combined business named Pet Retail Brands. With more than 930 stores, it is expected to generate approximately $1 billion in system-wide retail sales across the U.S. and Canada. Pet Retail Brands will have stores from the East Coast to the West Coast and from Miami to Vancouver.  

Bolstered by the rapid expansion of build-your-own pizza concepts, fast-casual chains had another strong year in 2015.   That’s according to Technomic Inc.’s annual Top 250 Fast-Casual Chain Restaurant report, which reported that cumulative sales in the fast-casual dining segment rose 11.6% in 205, compared to 13.5% in 2014.  

Nordstrom has taken another step to reduce complexity in its supply chain and improve its shipping of online orders.    The retailer has bought a minority stake in DS Co., a software company that links inventory management between retailers and suppliers, the Wall Street Journal reported. The company, based in Utah, offers a cloud-based service, called Dsco, which makes it easier for suppliers to directly ship orders placed through their retail partners.   

A veteran grocery store brand in the Dallas market will soon be history.   Houston-based Fiesta Mart announced Thursday it is acquiring 11 Minyard Food Stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area from RLS Supermarkets. The Minyard stores will transition to the Fiesta brand over the next several month     Fiesta is a specialty grocery retailer known for its international offerings that cater to diverse communities. With the Minyard acquisition, Fiesta will now operate 70 stores across Texas.

The month of June brought a welcome bit of news for beleaguered Gap Inc.   The company reported that net sales for the five-week period ended July 2, 2016 increased 2% to $1.57 billion.   “We are pleased to see better performance across the portfolio this month, partly driven by an improvement in June traffic trends, particularly at Old Navy,” said Sabrina Simmons, CFO, Gap Inc.  

Walgreens Boots Alliance reported climbing sales and profits in a generally successful third quarter of fiscal 2016.