Sales & Marketing

Delinquency trends in Target’s credit card portfolio just keep getting better. During April, the percentage of accounts 60 or 90 days past due sank to their lowest level of the past three years. Only 2.4% of accounts were 90 days past due during April, compared with 2.6% in March and 2.9% in February. Throughout most of 2009 and early 2010, the 90-day delinquency rates was above 4% and approached 5% at times.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.  — Sears announced that it is launching its fourth annual Heroes at Home spring renovation campaign with Rebuilding Together, a nonprofit working to preserve affordable homeownership. Sears said that with the help of Rebuilding Together, it expects to renovate more than 300 homes across the country as part of the Heroes at Home program, which aims to improve American military families' lives by making necessary repairs, improvements or modifications to their homes.

Chicago -- In its most recent consumer sentiment and behavior survey, Technomic, the Chicago-based food industry research firm, found that 84% of consumers believe that grocery prices have risen in the past three months and 62% believe restaurant prices have risen.

Bob Goldin, executive VP of Technomic, believes that the rapid rise in gas prices, now at record highs, has raised consumer sensitivity to price increases in grocery stores and restaurants.

Find out how an integrated analytics model is driving retail success.

View Now
 

Projections calling for a low-to-mid single-digit comp increase at Target during May don’t sound overly aggressive, but when factoring in some of the economic headwinds and uncertainties facing the U.S. economy, the sales plan begins to sound more ambitious.

Consumers are dealing with higher fuel prices, food inflation and lingering unemployment. Where $4 a gallon gas prices are headed next is big unknown, but it is only May and historically prices increase during the summer. Ouch!

SAN FRANCISCO — A new bill introduced by a California assemblywoman aims to curb the sale of alcohol to minors by prohibiting sales at self-service checkouts.

Assembly Bill 183, introduced last month by Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco and San Mateo Counties, was passed by the assembly committee. Assemblywoman Ma said that self-service checkouts are susceptible to technological failures, allowing minors to purchase alcohol.

East Rutherford, N.J. -- Triple Five on Monday gave more information on its plans to transform the controversial and long-delayed Xanadu project in New Jersey’s Meadowlands Sports Complex, in East Rutherford, into what it promises will be “the world's largest and premier tourism, entertainment and retail destination, eventually reaching 7.5 million sq. ft.”

Although revenues at Target last year increased 3.1% to nearly $67.4 billion, other big companies grew faster, and Target slipped three spots to 33rd from 30th in Fortune’s annual ranking of America’s 500 largest companies.