Data & Analytics

Washington, D.C. – The National Retail Federation (NRF) is scheduled to testify before a Senate committee the week of Feb. 3, as lawmakers begin to look into criminal attacks in which millions of consumers’ credit and debit card numbers were stolen.

Jacksonville, Fla. - Shoppers are increasing eating out by actually eating in as they take advantage of ready-to-eat foods and meal solution offerings from grocery stores, quick-serve restaurants, food delivery and take away. A new study from AMG Strategic Advisors, “The Why? Behind the Buy,” shows that Millennials are most likely to use prepared food for meal solutions, but overall, 77% of total U.S. shoppers reported eating out in the past month.

Washington, D.C. - As a result of softer same-store sales and customer traffic levels, the National Restaurant Association's Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) registered a moderate decline in December 2013. The RPI, a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry, stood at 100.5 in December, down 0.6% from November and the first decline in three months.  

Los Angeles — CIG Retail Properties has acquired the 170,739-sq.-ft. Garden Park Shopping Center in the Dallas, Texas, suburb of Lewisville, for an undisclosed amount. CBRE’s private capital group in Dallas negotiated the sale on behalf of the seller, a special servicer.

World Gym and Thrift City anchor the center. The tenant line-up includes Precision Sports Nutrition, Edward Jones, The UPS Store and Lewisville Soccer.

Sunnyvale, Calif. – Yahoo recently identified a coordinated effort to gain unauthorized access to Yahoo Mail accounts. In a Tumblr blog post signed by Jay Rossiter, senior VP, Platforms and Personalization Products of Yahoo, the company said that upon discovery, it took immediate action to protect users, prompting them to reset passwords on impacted accounts.

Dallas – Tuesday Morning reported net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2014 of $17.7 million, compared to a net loss of $21.5 million in the same period last year. The company's net sales were $285.8 million, essentially flat with $285.3 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2013.

Boston – Wayfair reported $915 million in revenue to close the year 2013, with an annual revenue growth rate of 55% and order intake exceeding $1 billion. The company said its portfolio of home brands experienced steady growth throughout 2013 capped off by strong holiday sales in the fourth quarter.

New York -- In a study of the returns and refunds performance of the 25 largest online retailers, StellaService found that the majority of retailers evaluated aren’t meeting consumer expectations.

StellaService analysts ordered the same product from each retailer to be delivered to the three separate regions of East, West and Midwest. They then returned the product, tracking metrics such as the presence of a prepaid, adhesive return label, total time to receive a return authorization and refund speed. The average refund speed of was 10.7 days.

New Albany, Ohio -- Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has promoted Jonathan E. Ramsden, currently the company's executive VP and CFO, to the position of COO, a new role at the company. Ramsden will continue to serve as CFO, in addition to his COO role, until a new CFO is appointed.

Canton, Mass. -- Dennis Hernreich, executive VP, COO and CFO of Destination XL Group Inc., has resigned to pursue new challenges and board member John E. Kyees has been named interim CFO. In addition, the company has elected Will Mesdag, 60, to its board of directors.

Kyees, who has served on the Destination XL board of directors since 2010, was CFO of Urban Outfitters from 2003 until his retirement in 2010, and has served as a senior financial executive at several other prominent retailers. The company is conducting a search for a permanent CFO.