Discount Store

NEW YORK - Overall U.S. retail sales (excluding auto) are expected to grow 3%-4% in 2015 although a variety of challenges will continue to constrain the performance of several retailers and retail segments, according to a new Fitch Ratings report.   A gradual increase in the U.S. employment rate and real wages along with near-term benefits from lower gas prices will support retail sales growth.  

Tarrytown, New York - DLC Management Corporation announced its latest acquisition of 11 retail assets in New York, North Carolina, Arkansas and Tennessee totaling 2.58 million sq. ft., of which 1.73 million sq. ft. is owned property.   According to DLC, this acquisition is the largest in its history. The The properties include:  

• 2015 Walden Avenue, 26,500 sq. ft. – Cheektowaga, New York
• Batavia Commons, 49,431 sq. ft. – Batavia, New York

Year-over-year (YOY) retail dollar volume from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday grew 5.3%, a decrease from last year’s growth of 7.4%, according to First Data 2014 SpendTrend Holiday Shopping Spend Analysis, which examined consumer spending from more than one million merchant locations over the five-day period.Similarly, retail transaction growth was 5.0% compared to 6.0% in 2013.  

A new report looking at consumer shopping habits on mobile phones shows that Sunday is the best day of the week when it comes to sales from mobile shoppers.

"Online shopping has become a major force in global markets. And, with the holiday shopping season upon us in the United States, we see mobile's share of that market accelerating," said Larry Moores, vice president for consumer mobile reporting and analytics at Opera Software, a leading mobile internet and advertising company.

Philadelphia — Specialty retailer Five Below named current COO and industry veteran Joel Anderson as president and CEO, effective Feb.1., 2015.  Anderson has also been elected a member of the company's board of directors.  Current CEO and co-founder, Tom Vellios, who will work with Anderson to ensure a smooth transition, will remain active in the company as executive chairman.   

As the acquisition of Family Dollar moves closer to resolution, would-be acquirers Dollar Tree and Dollar General maintain widely differing views on the superiority of their respective offers and the opinion of federal regulators.

Columbus, Ohio – Big Lots Inc. came up smaller than Wall Street expected with its fiscal performance in the third quarter of fiscal 2014. Net loss shrank to a higher-than-expected $3.44 million from $9.52 million in the same quarter the prior fiscal year.
  Net sales marginally grew to $1.11 billion from $1.1 billion, and same-store sales increased 1.4%. The company expects low-single-digit increases in same-store sales for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2014.
 

Goodlettsville, Tenn. — Dollar General Corp. and Dollar Tree engaged in a verbal war on Friday as they both seek to acquire Family Dollar.    In a news release, Dollar Tree said Dollar General's bid "may ultimately fail" because the Federal Trade Commission may require it to sell more than the 1,500 stores the retailer has said it is willing to let go of.