Business Analytics

Springfield, N.J. -- Village Super Market reported Thursday that net income for the third quarter dropped 68% to $1.7 million, primarily due to a $4.2 million charge for the withdrawal liability from a multi-employer pension plan.

Sales grew 5.2% to $316.2 million. Same-store sales increased 4.8%.

Atlanta -- A report released Thursday by First Data Corp. said that consumer spending growth slowed in May as concerns about the economy mounted.

According to the First Data SpendTrend analysis for the full month of May 2011, which tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations, year-over-year dollar volume growth slowed to 6.6%, the lowest monthly growth rate in 2011.

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. — NPD Group named Perry James, a 16-year veteran with the research firm, as the new president of home and office supplies. 

James replaces Peter Goldman, who moved on to a position within NPD as SVP technology analyst business. 

Before his current position, James was president of NPD’s office supplies and software businesses. From 2005 through 2007, he was with the home group on the business development side.

Hingham, Mass. -- The Talbots reported Tuesday that first-quarter profit was $739,000, compared with a loss of $4.4 million in the year-ago period. However, net sales dropped 6% to $301.3 million, compared with $320.7 million in the same period last year, and consolidated same-store sales decreased 7.7%.

Results missed Wall Street estimates and the company has lowered its second quarter outlook.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Boyd Clark was named SVP buying at Big 5 Sporting Goods following the resignation of long-time head merchant Thomas Schlauch, the company announced.

Heading into last Friday’s annual meeting, the financial community had high expectations Walmart would allocate additional funds to buy back stock, and the company didn’t disappoint. The $15 billion share repurchase authorization CFO Charles Holley announced replaced an existing $15 billion program approved one year earlier that had dwindled to just $2 billion due to the fact that Walmart was an aggressive purchaser of its own stock during the past 12 months.

Sequential improvements in delinquency rates in Targets’s credit card portfolio just keep coming as the percentage of accounts 60 and 90 days past due fell yet again in May.

The number of accounts 60 day’s past due dropped to 3.1% in May compared with 3.3% in April while the number of accounts 90 days past represented just 2.3% of the total portfolio in May compared to 2.4% in April.

New York City -- A jobs report on Friday that showed a slowing hiring market sent retail shares tumbling. According to the Labor Department, U.S. employers added just 54,000 new workers in May, the fewest in eight months. With unemployment at 9.1%, those retailers most closely tied to the job market, including Staples and Office Depot, saw the most negative impact.