Data & Analytics

ZEELAND, Mich. — Office furniture manufacturer Herman Miller posted strong fourth quarter results and offered an indication that demand may finally pick up for other segments of the office products world. 

The company reported net sales for the quarter ended June 1 of $460 million, an increase of 9.3% from $420.7 the same quarter last fiscal year. For the full fiscal year, net sales were $1.8 billion, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 2.9% from $1.7 billion. 

Bentonville, Ark. - Mike Duke, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores, released the following statement in response to President Obama’s renewable energy address on Tuesday:

Omaha, Neb. - Midwestern department store retailer Gordmans Stores, which recently announced plans to expand its store base nearly 40% over a three-year period, said it will move forward with the Oracle Retail platform as a means to support the aggressive growth initiative.

Bentonville, Ark. - Wal-Mart Stores announced Tuesday it has completed solar projects at eight Walmart stores and two Sam's Clubs across the state of Maryland that will generate clean, renewable electricity.

New York - A report released by Bloomberg on Tuesday said that confidence among American consumers in June surpassed expectations, climbing to the highest level in more than five years.

The Conference Board’s index rose to 81.4, beating Bloomberg forecasts of 75.1 and reaching the highest point since January 2008. The index reached 74.3 in May. 

Deerfield, Ill. – Walgreens posted gains in sales and earnings during its fiscal third quarter 2013, but still came in below the expectations of Wall Street analysts. Earnings rose 16% to $624 million from $537 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2012. However, excluding certain items, analysts had expected earnings of close to 30 cents a share higher for the quarter.

New York – Barnes & Noble reported disappointing financial results for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2013. During the fourth quarter, Barnes & Noble reported a net loss of $122 million, significantly more than the net loss of $9.7 million reported in fourth quarter 2012. For the full fiscal year, the retailer posted a net loss of $154.8 million, compared with a net loss of $56.9 million the prior fiscal year.

Denver – Furniture Row, parent company of home furnishings retailer Denver Mattress, is using the Oracle ATG e-commerce solution to both personalize the Denver Mattress e-commerce site and make it adaptable to the format of any device the customer chooses to employ. Using the “adaptive design” website design methodology enabled by ATG technology, the Denver Mattress site instantly recognizes what type of device — such as PC, smartphone or tablet — a customer is using and optimizes display for that specific screen.

Wilmington, Del. – Reemarkit.com, a new e-commerce business that promotes itself as an “online garage sale,” is trying to reconfigure the booming business of consumers reselling used goods online. While such popular sites as eBay and Amazon allow individuals and businesses to resell used merchandise in exchange for a cut of the profits and/or listing fees, Reemarkit.com is technically free, but is employing a profit model more commonly seen in online video games.

Clearwater, Fla. – Multichannel retailer/product marketer As Seen On TV is taking advantage of the burgeoning crowd-funding trend to let its customers help decide what new products will be available for sale. Partnering with crowd-funding software provider Launcht Inc., As Seen On TV will allow inventors to upload video, images, design specifications and marketing strategies relating to their product ideas onto its e-commerce site. Customers will then be able to comment on, review and make prepurchases of products.