Sales & Marketing

Overall retail spending growth in August 2014 was the strongest in more than a year, according to the First Data SpendTrend report.

Retail dollar volume growth reached 2.8% in August — compared to 2.6% in July — as back-to-school shopping propelled spending growth in several retail categories.

Bolingbrook, Ill. – Ulta Beauty on Friday posted second-quarter net income that jumped 35%, easily beating Wall Street's expectations. The company also raised its full-year outlook, and announced a five-year strategic plan that includes opening some 100 stores annually.

Ulta’s net income for the quarter ended Aug. 2 increased to $60.8 million, from $44.9 million a year earlier. Net sales increased 22.2% to $734.2 million from $601 million last year, also topping expectations.

Hudson's Bay Company is reaping the rewards of its acquisition last year of Saks. The company’s retail sales soared 86.6% to $1.8 billion, from $948 million in the prior year.

Consolidated same-store sales increased by 1.9% on a local currency basis, with increases of 1.1% at HBC’s department store group (DSG), 2.2% at Saks Fifth Avenue and 14.9% at Off 5th. Digital commerce sales totaled $162 million, including $116 million from Saks and growth of 82.2% at DSG.

Houston – The Mansour Group has arranged the sale of the 99% leased, 223,223-sq.-ft. Almeda Crossing Power Center located in Houston, for more than $30 million. The seller was a Texas-based developer and The Mansour Group was able to deliver the property to a national REIT.

The center is leased to an array of national tenants including Ross, Marshall’s, Staples, PetSmart, Conn’s, Party City, Show Carnival, Dollar Tree, Anna’s Linens, Aaron’s and many others and is shadow anchored by a Walmart supercenter.

Atlanta - Overall retail spending growth in August 2014 was the strongest in more than a year. According to the First Data SpendTrend report, retail dollar volume growth reached 2.8% in August (compared to 2.6% in July), as back-to-school shopping propelled spending growth in several retail categories. (SpendTrend tracks same-store point-of-sale data by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT, closed-loop prepaid cards and checks from nearly 4 million merchants locations serviced by First Data in the United States.)

PunchTab, a leading omnichannel engagement and insights platform, has appointed Mike Mansbach as the company’s next CEO.

The platform considers Mansbach to be a results-driven go-to-market executive who successfully led the global sales and client services team for the SaaS Division at Citrix.
 

New York -- Wal-Mart Stores has no plans to join Apple’s newly-announced mobile payments system, Apple Pay, which is due to launch in October.

Wal-Mart is supporting a retailer-owned mobile technology group, the Merchant Customer Exchange, which is launching its own mobile wallet application. The application, called CurrentC, is now in pilot and is expected to be rolled out nationwide in 2015, according to The Washington Post.  Best Buy is also among the retailers supporting CurrentC.
   

The Hain Celestial Group, a leading organic and natural products company, and NBA center for the Dallas Mavericks Tyson Chandler have teamed up to digitally publish Tyson's Pro Tips, an insider's guide to improve athletic performance.

Written for young athletes, their coaches, parents and caregivers, the 21 pro tips in Tyson's Pro Tips offer nutrition, fitness and personal care advice designed to help established players and emerging stars achieve their goals in a healthy and positive way, the brand said.