Data & Analytics

New York -- When Macy’s reported a 4.2% May same-store sales gain on Wednesday, ahead of the rest of the pack, analysts wondered whether that would set the tone for the rest of the department store players. It did — and it didn’t.

New York -- Target and TJX Cos. both reported better-than-expected results in May, with a 4.4% and an 8% increase in same-store sales, respectively. Wall Street expected Target same-store sales to be up 3.5% in May and forecasted TJX sales to rise 5.3%.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — May sales at Fred's Inc. increased 6% to $152.1 million from $143.6 million in May 2011. Comparable-store sales for the month rose 1.3% compared with an increase of 0.2% in the same period last year.

Fred's total sales for the first four months of fiscal 2012 increased 4% to $652.6 million compared with $628 million for the same period last year. On a comparable-store basis, year-to-date sales increased 0.1% on top of an increase of 0.8% in the same period last year.

WAYNE, N.J. — Toys"R"Us is continuing its support of Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a cure for all children with cancer, through in-store and online fundraising as well as a social media campaign. Beginning this Friday, June 1 through Tuesday, July 31, the company will "Help Fight Childhood Cancer, One Cup at a Time" with an in-store and online fundraising campaign benefiting ALSF.

Toys“R”Us chairman and CEO Jerry Storch and Nordstrom Direct president Jamie Nordstrom are among the featured speakers at the Shop.org annual summit.

The annual event organized by Shop.org, a division of the National Retail Federation, will be held September 10 to 12 and the Colorado Convention Center and is billed as the premier gathering for retail e-commerce, digital and multichannel retailers.

New York -- Modell’s Sporting Goods, which operates 150+ brick-and-mortar stores as well as Modells.com, said Wednesday it has selected San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based e-commerce provider Shopatron as its order management solution to deliver officially licensed sports gear to fans just in time for the playoffs.

Modell's said it will continue to add more product categories to the site throughout the year, including athletic footwear, active apparel and other sporting goods, to bring its complete in-store selection online.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. -- Sears Holdings Corp. said Wednesday it has launched a new online charity project designed to parlay customer opinions into charitable contributions.

The project, called “Love/Hate: Share Your Thoughts, Send Some Love,” allows customers to review a product in order to vote for one of four charities. The participating charities competing for the grand prize of $100,000 include the American Cancer Society, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, World Vision and World Wildlife Fund.

Cincinnati -- Macy’s reported Wednesday that same-store sales for the month of May increased 4.2% compared with the previous year. Revenue rose 4.1% to $2.02 billion.

Hampstead, Md. -- Jos. A. Bank Clothiers reported Wednesday that net income for the quarter ended April 28 shrank to $14.8 million, from $17.8 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 4.2% to $201.4 million, from $193.3 million. Same-store sales dipped 1%.
 

New York -- A survey released Wednesday by Harris Interactive found that spending can be impacted by concern for the environment. While that has remained constant among many age groups, more young adults ages 18-to-24 say they are taking the environment into consideration when making purchases.