Data & Analytics

New York – Ann Inc. beat Wall Street expectations with strong profit growth in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, but revenue growth fell short of the Street’s outlook. 
  The company, which  is being acquire by Ascena Retail Group for $2.2 billion, reported that its net income more than doubled to $13.6 million from $5.2 million the same quarter a year earlier, driven by lower restructuring charges and selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses that more than offset a softer gross margin.

Chicago – Real estate investment trusts (REITs), which represent a sizable share of retail real estate activity, are worried about possible increases in interest rates. According to a report by consulting firm BDO USA LLP, 97% of REITs mention risks related to increases in interest rates and hedging.    This is up from 90% in 2014 and 88% in 2013, according to the 2015 BDO RiskFactor Report for REITs, which analyzes the most recent SEC 10-K filings for the 100 largest publicly traded REITs in the U.S.

San Francisco – E-commerce platform Bigcommerce teamed up with Braintree and PayPal to offer an end-to-end ecommerce solution that makes it easier to launch and grow an online store. As part of the collaboration, Bigcommerce merchants will also get access to PayPal’s One Touch for web and mobile, enabling shoppers to pay across more than 90,000 online stores in a single touch, without needing to enter user IDs or passwords after their first login.

New York – Increases in selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses and interest expenses helped increase net loss at New York & Co. to $4.7 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 from $300,000 the same period a year earlier. The growing loss occurred as sales improved 2% to $223.4 million from $219.6 million, and same-store sales rose 1.8%.

Omaha, Neb. – Gordman’s Stores Inc. swung to net income of $400,000 in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 from net loss of $700,000 in the same period the prior year. Improved control of store, corporate and insurance expenses, as well the paydown of a loan, helped push Gordman’s into the black.
 

Washington, D.C. – Online marketplace LivingSocial appointed Atul Kavthekar as CFO. He will join the company in June, and will report to president and CEO Gautam Thakar.
 

San Francisco — Gap Inc. posted an 8% decline in its first-quarter profit amid currency fluctuations, merchandise delays from the West Coast ports slowdown, and sluggish sales at its namesake and Banana Republic stores. On a positive note, Old Navy continued its strong performance. 
 

New York — Aeropostale Inc. managed to shrink its net loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, even as sales declined. The mall-based specialty retailer reported a net loss of $45.27 million, down from $76.78 million, amid  reductions in selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) and restructuring charges helped cut net loss.
   Net sales dropped 19% to $318.6 million from $395.9 million. Same-store sales, including e-commerce, fell 11%.
 

Framingham, Mass. – Staples Inc. sees Amazon.com as its biggest competitor, and is not shying away from the competition. During a panel discussion at the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium held May 20 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Staples CIO Tom Conophy explained his company’s intentions in its rivalry with the e-commerce giant.

“We’re going after Amazon in a big way,” declared Conophy. “We were an original disruptor in retail but lost our way. We didn’t see the onslaught of Amazon coming.”

A new wave of consumers is quickly becoming the most powerful economic force in retail, and it is causing retailers to refine plans on how to meet the needs of this new generation.

While some retailers may see Millennials as a unique group that forces massive change, GameStop sees them as well-informed, independent consumers who are causing us to rise to an even higher level of service.