Data & Analytics

Warm weather didn’t hurt this retailer’s sales
The parent company of Zales and Jared is looking forward to a happy holiday after producing third quarter results that met the company’s growth targets.
Somebody is getting new shoes this Christmas
In addition to the requisite comment about expecting the holidays to be highly promotional, Famous Footwear also expects the momentum it saw during back-to-school season to carry over to the fourth quarter.

Famous Footwear’s third quarter same store sales increased 4.4% and total sales increased 4.8% to $456 million, excluding the performance of the divested Shoes.com business, to represent 63% of parent company Caleres total sales of $728.6 million. Caleres is the company formerly known as Brown Shoe Company that changed its name earlier this year.

Guess? hit by weak sales, strong dollar

The CEO of Guess?
The Carson effect evident at Books-A-Million

Guest appearances by Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson at Books-A-Million stores gave the retailer a modest sales lift in the third quarter.

The company said its sales increased 0.4% to $101.6 million and same store sales increased 1.6%, thanks in part to appearances by Republication presidential contender Dr. Ben Carson. However, signs of life on the top line did not translate to bottom line improvement as Books-A-Million reported a loss of $7.1 million, or 50 cents a share, that was in line with a loss from the prior year.
Retailers make holidays a social occasion

The holidays are becoming an increasingly social event, as evidenced by the promotional campaigns of two major department store chains this season.

According to Adweek, both Target and Macy’s are heavily leveraging a variety of social media platforms to engage consumers for the 2015 holiday season. Target has increased the percentage of its overall paid media spend represented by social to 12%, up 30% from about 9% in 2014.
Heading into the holiday rush, these retailers are tops in social engagment

A department store and a beauty specialty retailer have the best momentum in social media going into the holiday season. Meanwhile, an online giant is losing steam.
Want to sell more expensive items online?

Retailers looking to maximize online revenues should utilize one specific digital promotional solution to create a sense of pleasure.
Strong dollar crushes Tiffany

Millions of people worldwide will be surprised and delighted to receive a little blue box this holiday season, but a strong U.S.
Same store sales drop 3.3% at Chico's

Chico's FAS blamed the holiday calendar and a volatile stock market for its disappointing financial results in the third quarter.
Dollar Tree/Family Dollar are on track for Q4

Dollar Tree’s third quarter results weren’t as strong as the prior year, but all is well with the integration of Family Dollar and CEO Bob Sasser contends the combined company is well-positioned for the holidays.

Total sales increased 136% to $4.95 billion during the quarter ended Oct. 31, from $2.1 billion in the prior year’s third quarter. The surge in sales reflects the first full quarter in which sales from Family Dollar stores are included in results. Dollar Tree completed its acquisition of Family Dollar on July 6 creating a retailer with 13,600 stores.
Fred's sails past pharmacy headwinds
Now Trending: It’s NOT the Internet, Dummy!

“Now Trending” is an exclusive online series to chainstoreage.com, featuring trending topics that impact the retail real estate landscape.

The narrative is a familiar one: the scourge of online sales, encroaching ominously on brick-and-mortar market share, continues to siphon sales and transform the retail industry into an increasingly virtual landscape. Over the last few years, nearly every retail sales drop or unexpectedly poor performance has been laid at the feet of the Internet.