Data & Analytics

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- “The Chore Score,” an app that allows parents to create chore lists for their kids with rewards that can be redeemed at Sears stores or Sears.com, won the recent Sears Startup & Developer Challenge. The contest, held for three days, featured more than 150 participants using the Sears development API to create apps that would strengthen the experience of the Sears Shop Your Way membership program.

Oberlin, Ohio - College students budgeted an average of $447.75 for back-to-college shopping, not including textbooks. However, a recent student panel survey conducted by OnCampus Research, the research arm of indiCo, a division of the National Association of College Stores, shows that despite considering price the most important factor in back-to-school purchases, college students do not always follow or even create a budget.

By Tom Pettit, senior VP & general manager, Ryder Supply Chain Solutions, [email protected]

Des Moines, Iowa — The Des Moines Area Community College opened its school year with a new campus: a 65,000-sq.-ft. former J.C. Penney store located on the main level of Southridge Mall.

The mall’s owner, Macerich sold the space to DMACC for $1. The school, which has three other campuses in the Des Moines metro area, has invested $13 million in design, construction, equipment, labs and classrooms. Major donations will be announced this fall.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Following a difficult start to the year, leading branded footwear and accessories retailer DSW has rebounded with an increase in sales that resulted in solid quarterly profit results for the second quarter ended Aug. 3. 

The company reported sales of $562 million for the quarter, up 9.7% from $512 million for the prior-year period. Comparable-store sales increased 4.4% for the quarter on top of the prior-year quarter’s 4.2% increase.

ST. LOUIS — Brown Shoe Company saw a shift in sales to the second quarter from the third quarter which helped deliver net sales of $621.7 million for the second quarter ended Aug. 3, up 10% from $564.9 million last year.

NEW YORK — Multichannel retailer Delia’s, which markets primarily to teen girls, continues facing challenges in traffic trends as it wrapped up the second quarter ended Aug. 3 with total revenue of $33.2 million, a 16.7% drop from $39.8 million in the year-ago quarter.

Total m-commerce spending is poised to exceed $25 billion this year following a 24% surge in second quarter smartphone and tablet enabled sales that pushed estimated spending to $4.7 billion, according to digital measurement provider comScore.

The firm said m-commerce spending in the first half of the year totaled $10.6 billion, representing 10% of total digital commerce during that time. With the expected seasonal surge coming in the fourth quarter, m-commerce spending could surpass $25 billion for the full year, according to comScore’s estimates.

NEW YORK — Tiffany & Co. saw sales growth and an improved operating margin for the second quarter ended July 31, fueled largely by its performance in China. 

The company’s total sales in the Americas region were lackluster, increasing 2% to $444 million in the second quarter. Comparable-store sales remained flat for the quarter.

Americans are eating more chicken and paying more to do so, according to leading poultry producer Sanderson Farms.

The company said its third quarter sales increased 18.3% to $739 million and profits grew 136% to $67.9 million, or $2.95 a share, compared to profits of $28.7 million, or $1.25 a share.

The strong showing was the result of improved market conditions as whole bird prices remained at historically high prices during the quarter, according to Joe F. Sanderson, Jr., chairman and CEO of Sanderson Farms, Inc.