Data & Analytics

Minneapolis - Edward "Jack" Cameron, who served as CEO of Appliance Recycling Centers of America Inc. (ARCA) from 1976 to 2014, has been reinstated as CEO. Private investment firm Isaac Capital Group LLC (ICG), the largest single shareholder of ARCA with a 12% stake, backed Cameron’s return.

Cameron replaces Mark Eisenschenk, who had served as ARCA president since July 2013 and CEO since August 2014. ICG has also nominated new members to the company's board of directors, replacing the majority of the old board.

Minneapolis – Target Corp. is working with content discovery app Shazam to make print and TV ads shoppable through customer phones. The retailer is participating in the initial launch of Shazam’s new visual recognition functionality, which extends its mobile engagement platform allowing everything from packaged goods to print media and more are transformed from static images into dynamic pieces of content.

ULTA Beauty is that rare breed of retailer capable of exceeding ever loftier growth expectations and it did so again with the release of first quarter results on May 28.

ULTA reported that net sales increased 21.6% to $868.1 million from $713.8 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2014. Same store sales increased 11.4% compared to an increase of 8.7% in the first quarter of fiscal 2014. The 11.4% same store sales increase was driven by 7.2% growth in transactions and 4.2% growth in average ticket. 

Toronto – Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. is providing members of its Shoppers Optimum loyalty program with My Optimum. My Rewards, a new personalized digital experience. The new digital platform includes an enhanced Shoppers Drug Mart app and a digital Optimum card.

Optimum members will now receive personalized offers and points via their mobile device, email or the Web, and can load them to their digital or plastic Optimum card. They can also scan their digital Optimum card directly from their smartphone to earn and redeem points.

The integration of Zales helped Signet Jewelers turn i a robust financial performance in the first quarter.

Grapevine, Texas -- GameStop Corp.’s net income rose to $73.8 million in the first quarter, ended May 2, from $68 million, a year earlier.

Global sales increased to $2.06 billion from $2.00 billion, helped by the releases of games such as "Evolve" and "Mortal Kombat X."
Same-store sales rose 8.6%.

Costco Wholesale Corp. reported its first quarterly decline in same store sales since 2009, although profit at the club store did rise.

Same store sales declined 1% in the third quarter ended May 10, including fuel and foreign currency impacts. This was below the 0.7% growth expected by analysts. The company said sales were hurt by low gas prices and a stronger dollar that reduced the value of sales from overseas markets.

Brian Cornell, CEO and chairman of Target Corp., has focused on digital innovation since he took the top spot at the chain last August. He recently participated in a Q&A at the high-profile tech event, the Code Conference, in Ranchos Palos, California.  

Here are some highlights from his conversation, as posted on Target’s very own Bullseye View blog.