Business Analytics

New York -- As analysts begin to speculate about the acquisition scenarios for Family Dollar – whether by Dollar Tree or Dollar General – one thing is clear: some store closures will occur.

According to a report by Wall Street Journal Online, a Dollar General takeover would close more stores than if Dollar Tree wins the bid. Dollar General said it is prepared to divest up to 700 of the combined company’s approximate 19,600 stores to satisfy antitrust regulators.
 

Atlanta -- Home Depot said its fiscal second-quarter net income rose 14% amid a rebound in its spring selling season and strong online sales. The retailer also raised its annual profit guidance.

"In the second quarter, our spring seasonal business rebounded, and we saw strong performance in the core of the store and across all of our geographies," stated Frank Blake, chairman and CEO.

For the three months ended Aug. 3, Home Depot Inc. earned a better-than-expected $2.1 billion, compared to $1.8 billion in the year-ago period.

Framingham, Mass. -- TJX Cos. said Tuesday that its second-quarter net income increased a better-than-expected 8% on strong sales in the United States and abroad. The retailer also lifted its full-year earnings forecast.

TJX earned $517.6 million for the period ended Aug. 2, compared with $479.6 million a year earlier.

Revenue rose 7% to $6.92 billion from $6.44 billion, beating Wall Street's estimate of $6.88 billion.

A 6.4% second quarter same store sales increase at U.S. stores enabled Home Depot to handily exceed analysts’ profit estimates and prompted the company to increase its full year outlook.

Dick’s Sporting Goods overcame weakness in its golf and hunting businesses to generate much better than expected second quarter same store sales and made further inroads in e-commerce.

Plug and Play helps bring together retailers and startups who offer specific technology and expertise that can relieve their pain points. In each issue of our Customer Disruption e-newsletter, we will provide you a brief Q&A with the CEO of a Plug and Play startup, explaining how their company assists retailers in succeeding in today’s disruptive customer environment.

This week’s inaugural CEO Corner features three questions with Rich Wagner, CEO of Prevedere.

What does your company do?

Plano, Texas -- J.C. Penney answered Wall Street questions about whether or not the struggling department store retailer could stage a comeback — by posting better-than-expected profit and revenue in the second quarter.

Plano, Texas – Pizza Hut Inc. is deploying energy management systems from Entouch Controls at 500 corporate stores. The company plans to recommend the Entouch technology to its 5,800 franchised stores, as well.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. – Kohl’s Corp. had a relatively flat second quarter of fiscal 2014 compared to the same period the previous year. Net income slightly rose to $232 million from $231 million, while sales fell 1% to $4.24 billion from $4.28 billion.

Same-store sales dropped 1.1%, although Kohl’s said they turned positive in July. Kohl’s plans to open four new stores in fall 2014, including one store which was temporarily closed in the first quarter for a complete re-build.

Kohl’s exceeded analysts’ profit expectations in the second quarter, but it wasn’t due to top line strength and now the company has a lot riding on the back-to-school season.