Discount Store

CITY OF COMMERCE, Calif. — 99 Cents Only Stores reported that its consolidated net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 was $17.7 million, or 25 cents per diluted share, compared with $16.8 million, or 24 cents per diluted share, for the prior year.

Overall, there was an 8 % decline in the number of pages per market across the retailer set, and a 4% decline in number of inserts. Pages being down can be attributed to a steep decline in Kohl’s and Sears' number of pages per market, while the decline in number of inserts was due to Home Depot and Staples decreasing their drops.

Home Depot and Safeway adopted a similar strategy, reducing the number inserts per market in July 2011 compared with last year, while increasing the number of pages per market. 

Atlanta -- A report released Tuesday by First Data Corp., which tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations, found that card spend growth slowed significantly in July. However, dollar volume growth at general merchandise stores, including value retail, rose 10.3%, the largest increase in 10 months, as value retailers increased merchant promotional activity and discounting to attract consumers.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — After exceeding more than $2 million in food and donations, Meijer announced that it once again has launched the Simply Give campaign throughout its stores.

City of Commerce, Calif. -- Discount retailer 99 Cents Only Stores reported Monday that net income for the quarter ended July 2 rose to $17.7 million, from $16.8 million in the year earlier period.

Total revenue rose 6.3% to $368.3 million, from $346.5 million a year ago. Same-store sales rose 5.9%.

The outlet mall industry has undergone a major transition during the past decade and has never been better positioned for future success. This is a significant change from 10 years ago when a stale product mix targeted to a transient shopper base had raised serious questions about the viability of the outlet mall.

Strength in the apparel category continued at Target during July, with same-store sales increasing just below the company average of 4.1%, positioning the company as a winner in a month where performance among competitors was uneven.

A slew of retailers are scheduled to report second-quarter earnings in the coming weeks and among the more highly anticipated reports are results from Walmart and Target. 

Walmart is due up first on Aug. 16 followed by Target on Aug. 17.