Business Analytics

The Children's Place president and CEO Jane Elfers focused on the positive following decreases in net and comparable-store sales for the third quarter, despite the company’s reportedly strong performance during the back-to-school period.

Famous footwear may have generated record third quarter sales, but parent company Brown Shoe was unwilling to get too ambitious with holiday expectations given uncertainty it sees around promotional activity and consumer sentiment.

Fred's credited an 8% lift in pharmacy department sales as a key factor accounting for the company's third-quarter success.

An increase in third-quarter net sales was not enough to bolster Chico’s FAS’s net income, which took a hit from its Boston Proper business.

The company reported net income of $35.8 million, down 15% from $42 million in the same period a year earlier.

Online sales early this week were up nearly 12% from the equivalent Monday a year earlier. Data from the IBM Digital Analytics Holiday Benchmark shows that mobile traffic accounted for nearly 32% of all online traffic, up 42% compared to the same period last year.   

Stater Bros. has promoted CFO David Harris to EVP finance.

Harris began working for the chain in 2009 as VP finance and was promoted to SVP finance in 2011. A year later, he was promoted to CFO and principal accounting officer. Before working for Stater Bros., he was a partner with Ernst & Young in Riverside and Irvine, both cities near San Bernardino, Calif., where Stater Bros. is headquartered.

Plano, Texas – J.C. Penney will no longer be included on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.  

Dow Jones Indices, which manages the S&P 500 as well as many other financial indices, said on Nov. 22 that Allegion, an Ireland-based provider of mechanical and electronic security products, will replace Penney on the S&P 500. Penney will join the S&P MidCap 400. The change will become effective after the stock market closes on Nov. 29.

Phoenix – PetSmart reported a 12% increase in net income, to $92 million from $82 million a year earlier, during the third quarter of 2013. Total sales grew about 4%, to $1.69 billion from $1.62 billion, while same-store sales increased 2.7%.

Looking ahead, PetSmart predicts same-store sales growth of 3%-3.5% and total sales growth of approximately 3% for fiscal 2013. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, PetSmart forecasts same-store sales growth of 2.5%-3.5% and a 2%-3% decrease in total sales.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Ross Stores Inc. reported third-quarter profit of $171.6 million, up from $159.5 million a year earlier, on higher sales and gross margins. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, the off-retailer forecast earnings below Street estimates and said it was adopting a more cautious outlook for the quarter.

PetSmart’s third quarter results benefited from consumers who continue spending money on their pets despite a still-challenging consumer environment.

The company’s earnings per share jumped 17.3% to $0.88 from $0.75 in the third quarter of 2012. Net income totaled $92 million for the quarter, compared to $82 million in last year’s third quarter.