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Mass Merchant

  • A Vintage Varsity clarification courtesy of Kathee Tesija

    Not long after the Vintage Varsity collection of young men’s and women’s apparel hits stores, Target News Now opined that the garments seemed a little pricy and cost conscious college kids would be likely to defer purchases until the goods were marked down.

    More specifically, we said, “College girls may love the look of the tees, tanks, sweats and shorts Target has offered up under the Vintage Varsity brand this season, but the prices the items are offered at isn’t anything to text home about.”

  • Gap Inc. income down in a challenging quarter

    SAN FRANCISCO — Gap Inc. reported that net sales for the second quarter of fiscal year 2011, which ended July 30, increased 2% to $3.39 billion compared with $3.32 billion for the second quarter last year. The company’s second quarter comparable sales, which include associated comparable online sales, were down 2% compared with a 1% increase in the second quarter last year. For the second quarter of fiscal year 2011, online sales positively impacted comparable sales for Gap Inc. by 2 percentage points.

  • Hhgregg to open 14 Chicagoland stores on Sept. 15

    Indianapolis -- Electronics and appliances retailer Hhgregg said Friday it will open 14 new stores in the Chicago area on Sept. 15.

    Chicago is a new market for Hhgregg, and with the opening of 14 new stores, it will become the company’s largest market.
     

  • Turn those awkward photos into college cash from Meijer

    GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer and Dr. Pepper announced that they are often students the  chance to turn those awkward photos into money for college. Through August 27 participants can go to the Meijer Facebook page and upload their photos for a chance to win free tuition for a year (maximum value $20,000). 

  • Declining traffic is a global phenomenon

    The trend of fewer people shopping Walmart stores less often has hurt the company’s efforts to revitalize U.S. sales growth, and now it the appears trip consolidation trend is playing out internationally as well.

  • Gap's profits drop 19% in Q2

    San Francisco -- Gap reported Thursday that profit for the quarter ended July 30 dropped 19% to $189 million, compared with $234 million in the year-ago period.

    The retailer, which operates the Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic banners, cited aggressive merchandise pricing reductions for the profit decline. Results beat analysts’ earnings expectations, but the declines still raised concerns about Gap’s performance in the upcoming fall and holiday shopping seasons.

  • Int. division helped 2Q, but not as much as Sam’s

    Walmart International sales increased 7.1% to $27.8 billion in the second quarter and all countries produced sales growth, except Japan, when measured on a constant currency basis. Profitability didn’t improve as quickly. Operating profit was up 0.5% to nearly $1.3 billion, but if some one time charges are excluded the growth rate picks up to 5.6%.

  • Simon telegraphs expansion plans

    Look for a big number out of Walmart come early October when it discloses 2012 expansion plans for smaller formats in conjunction with the company’s fall analysts’ meeting. Here’s how you can tell. Reading between the lines on the company’s second quarter earnings call transcript Walmart U.S. president and CEO Bill Simon touted the fact that the return on investment for Neighborhood Market stores is now the same as Walmart supercenters. Recall, in the past the rationale for the slow expansion pace of the 40,000-sq.-ft.

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