eCommerce

After a solid first quarter, Home Depot has posted an even stronger set of second quarter figures. Total sales rose by 6.2% with underlying comparables up by 6.3% overall and by 6.6% in North America. Given the long run of big uplifts in same-store numbers, this is a very impressive performance.  

TJX Companies reported second-quarter revenue and earnings that beat the Street, fueled by strong traffic across all its brands.      Total sales rose 6% to $8.36 billion, beating analysts' estimates of $8.29 billion, in the quarter ended July 29. Same-store sales rose 3% for the quarter, also better than expected. By brand, same-store rose 7% at Home Goods and TJX Canada; 2% at Marmaxx (TJ Maxx and Marshalls); and 1% at TJX International.   

Grocery is one of the fastest-growing segments of retail — just not in Chicago.   Over the past two years, 25 supermarket shut their doors in Chicagoland. Sixteen new ones opened, but they were smaller than the ones that closed, making for what Mid-America Real Estate calls an “alarming” loss of 544,512 sq. ft. of inventory.  

Shoppers will do anything to qualify for free shipping — even spend more money if need be.    That's according to a new report by Radial and CFI Group, which surveyed online shoppers to find out what they expect from retailers during the holiday shopping season. Sixty-five percent of the respondents said they are willing to purchase additional items to qualify for free shipping.   In other key findings:  

Online made-to-measure retailer Indochino expands its brick-and-mortar footprint with its largest location to date, a 4,100-sq.-ft. space at King of Prussia mall, King of Prussia, Pa.   The new outpost caps off a busy summer for the Canadian retailer, during which it also opened a second location in New York City, and flagships in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Earlier this year, the company opened two storefronts in Canada, in Edmonton and Vancouver. It currently has a total of 17 stores in North America.    

Irvine Retail Properties’ flagship shopping destination, The Irvine Spectrum Center, has demolished the 140,000-sq.-ft. Macy’s that opened there in 2002 and is erecting a new building in its place to accommodate up to 20 shops, according to a report in the Orange County Register.  

Kitchenware retailer Sur La Table has tapped a veteran retailer as its new CEO.    Sur La Table has appointed Billy May as CEO. May, who will also join the board of directors, succeeds Diane Neal who retired earlier this year.   May joins the kitchenware retailer from Abercrombie & Fitch, where he most recently served as senior VP and member of the executive leadership team. At Abercrombie, May was responsible for marketing, e-commerce, omnichannel and geographies. 

Moody's Investor Services is feeling positive about Amazon's plans to acquire Whole Foods Market.     The ratings agency assigned the deal a Baa1 rating and revised Amazon’s credit outlook to positive from stable, reported Marketwatch. The report also said that Amazon is planning to issue up to $16 million in debt to fund the online giant's acquisition of Whole Foods.