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Mass Merchant

  • Back-to-school ads didn’t make the grade

    Target failed to crack a ranking of the top 10 most effective back-to-school ads compiled by Ace Metrix that was dominated by retail competitors and technology companies.

  • Ditching candy won't likely thin out Sports Authority sales

    ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Citing a growing obesity epidemic in the United States, Sports Authority announced that it will no longer sell candy at its 465 stores.

    Though it may lose some of the impulse sales generated by offering tempting items near checkout, Sports Authority is hardly a destination for junk food lovers, and that space might be better suited for products geared more toward the retailer's customer base. 

  • China: Do Your Homework First

    From Gap and Coach to Best Buy and Starbucks, retailers across the board are looking to high-growth emerging markets to expand their business and increase revenues. Not surprisingly, China is a prime -- if not the No. 1 -- target of many retailers.

  • Survey: Food trips to nontraditional stores on rise

    New York City -- A survey released Thursday by consumer research firm AlixPartners found that 51% of consumers visit traditional supermarkets for their grocery shopping, while 30% shop mass merchants such as Walmart for groceries. Drug stores pull 5% of grocery shoppers, as do dollar stores.

  • Food For Thought

    By Howard Paster, [email protected]

  • Women of Walmart and CPG world shown little love

    The world is full of powerful women, but a recent listing of the 100 most powerful by Forbes indicates that, with a few exceptions, they don’t think many are involved in the retail and consumer packaged goods world.

  • Brown Shoe swings to loss in Q2

    St. Louis -- Brown Shoe Co., parent to the Famous Footwear chain, reported Thursday a loss of $4.6 million for the second quarter, compared with a profit of $5.3 million in the year-ago period.

    Sales increased 7.2% to $628.1 million, from $585.8 million.

  • Big Lots Q2 profit slips 8%

    Columbus, Ohio -- Big Lots reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended July 30 declined 8% to $35.7 million, compared with $38.9 million a year earlier. The company cited same-store sales declines and a charge related to its new Canadian stores for the performance slip.

    Revenue rose 3% to $1.17 billion from $1.14 billion. Same-store sales fell 1.5%.

    Big Lots acquired Liquidation World in July as part of a strategy to expand into Canada.
     

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