Data & Analytics

By Gregg Clark, [email protected]

Cleveland-based Sherwin-Williams Co. reported a sales increase of 1.4% in the first quarter ended March 31, thanks to higher volume in the Paint Stores Group.

Net income increased 16% to $116.2 million.

The company's consolidated net sales increased 1.4% to $2.17 billion. The Paint Stores Group saw sales increase 4.0% to $1.17 billion in the quarter. The company pointed to higher architectural paint sales volume across all end-market segments. Comp-store sales for paint stores increased 3.2%.

SALT LAKE CITY — Online discount retailer Overstock.com reported a 19% increase in total net revenue for the first quarter, thanks to a 21% increase in average order size.  

Overstock.com’s total net revenue for the quarter was $312 million, up from $262 million for the first quarter of last year, even though the company reported a small decrease in the number of customer orders. Its net income for the quarter surged to $8 million, up from $2.7 million for the same period last year. 

Boston -- Research findings released Thursday by mobile-retail marketer Swirl found that a full 76% of women prefer shopping in stores over shopping via their smartphones.

“What Women Want When Apparel Shopping,” which polled 1,000 women shoppers, also revealed that 53% of women have between one and five shopping apps on their smartphones. Yet, still, they opt for the store experience.

J.C. Penney late Thursday announced that chief operating officer Michael W. Kramer had left the company.

His departure was disclosed in an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In connection with Kramer’s departure, he received a lump sum cash payment of $2,143,414. In addition, the company also disclosed that Daniel Walker had resigned as the company’s chief talent officer.

I recently attended Chain Store Age’s 49th annual Store Planning, Equipment, Construction and Facilities Services Seminars (SPECS) in Dallas, Texas. While SPECS always gives me plenty to think about, this year was especially interesting thanks to the debut of a new segment on Real Estate Development. In addition to other workshop “tracks” like Facilities, Business Strategies, and Planning & Design, the inclusion of Real Estate Development to the mix really brought new (and important) perspectives.

Target may not cater to exactly the same shopper as Walmart, but there is enough overlap between the two companies to know that reports of weakness out of Minneapolis are never a good sign in Bentonville.

New York -- Dick Lynch has joined the SD Retail Consulting division of Hilco Trading as SVP merchandising and strategy.

In his new role, Lynch will be responsible for helping retailers create shareholder value through process, organization and technology enhancements in the key merchandising and inventory management functions. He will also play a key role in assisting management, owners and lenders in shareholder value creation assignments.