Business Analytics

Whirlpool North America, a division of Whirlpool Corp., reported second-quarter sales of $2.5 billion, a 4% increase over its sales in the second quarter of 2011. Overall, North America unit shipments decreased approximately 2%, the company said, with its unit shipments of major appliances to the United States increasing approximately 1%.

FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. — Wet Seal has terminated the employment of its CEO, Susan McGalla, and has begun a search for a new executive to head the struggling young women's apparel retailer.

Until such a person is found, Wet Seal president and COO and Steve Benrubi, CFO, will serve as co-principal execuitve officers and members of the office of the chairman, led by Hal Kahn, until a new CEO is elected by the board of directors.

For the month-to-date, Wet Seal's comps have declined between 13% and 14%.

By a nearly 3-to-1 margin, retailers say that internal theft is more extensive than external theft at their establishments, according to a new survey conducted by PointofSale.com. 

“It’s interesting to me that about half the respondents view their POS system as a means of theft prevention,” said Craig Aberle, publisher of PointofSale.com, who designed the survey. “Yet, theft continues to be a rampant problem among retailers.”

Purchase, N.Y. -- June spending at small retailers increased 8% in 2012 compared to June 2011, higher than the overall U.S. retail growth rate of 6.9%, according to a new SpendingPulse report issued by MasterCard Advisors in partnership with Wells Fargo. The same report also found that sales growth at small retailers has now outperformed growth of overall retail sales for nine consecutive months, since October 2011.  

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Stater Bros. Markets has promoted David Harris to the position of SVP finance, CFO and principal accounting officer of Stater Bros. Markets, effective June 18.  

Paris -- French retail giant Carrefour reported Thursday that sales in the second quarter dipped 0.3% to $26.5 billion, beating analysts’ expectations and prompting the retailer to issue earnings guidance to match 2012 expectations of $2.5 to $2.6 billion.

That’s not exactly the question a couple college professors ask in a new booked called, “The Physics of Business,” but it might as well have been. The authors suggest the forces of scale and efficiency are trumping innovation at U.S. companies of which Walmart is the largest.

Minneapolis -- Grocery giant SuperValu Inc. reported Wednesday that profit for the quarter ended June 16 plummeted 45% to $41 million, compared with $74 million in the year-ago period. The struggling parent to Albertsons, Jewel-Osco and Save-A-Lot grocery banners, among others, had begun to show improvement in its fourth quarter, but tumbling revenues have halted the forward momentum.

Sales dropped to $10.59 billion, from $11.11 billion in the same period last year, and missed Wall Street’s forecasted $10.61 billion in revenue.