Data & Analytics

Talk about visibility. Target went way beyond the norm in the retail industry earlier this year when it said that within six or seven years sales would reach $100 billion and earnings per share would double to at least $8. Expressing such a long term outlook is not without considerable risk, chief among them is the rapid pace of change in the retail industry and the fact that the competitive landscape and the factors influencing consumer demand could look very different within six or seven years.

It would appear the year is playing out much as Target’s senior executives envisioned many months ago when guidance was provided regarding how the retailer’s sales performance was likely to unfold. As expected, the second quarter same-store sales increase of 3.9% was an acceleration of the 2% gain reported during the first quarter, and now further improvement is anticipated during the third and fourth quarter judging from upwardly revised profit targets shared with investors.

In a second-quarter earnings season characterized by weather-depressed sales figures, Oak Brook, Ill.-based Ace Hardware Corp. managed to show a gain in revenues.

For the three months ended July 2, Ace saw revenues increase 0.5% to $1.021 billion. For the six-month period, sales increased 1.6% over the same two quarters in 2010.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Reading into the Books-A-Million results, its easy to see how the liquidation at Borders took a toll on the book retailer's second quarter. Books-A-Million reported that net sales for its second quarter decreased 11.4% to $106.4 million from net sales of $120 million in the year-earlier period. Comparable-store sales for the second quarter declined 12.9% compared with the 13-week period in the prior year.

By Jeff Weidauer, [email protected]

San Diego -- Ikea said Tuesday that it has officially powered up its solar energy installation at its 198,000-sq.-ft. store in San Diego.

The 30,000-sq.-ft. array consists of a 252-kW system, built with approximately 1,120 panels.  It will produce approximately 366,400 kWh of clean electricity annually, the equivalent of reducing 290 tons of carbon dioxide, eliminating the emissions of 50 cars or powering 32 homes yearly.

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Best Buy, Sears and Target ranked as the top three cross-channel performers in a study by CrossView, a provider of cross-channel commerce solutions. The study, which examined the cross-channel capabilities of 25 top retailers, found that a majority of retailers are providing an unsatisfactory cross-channel experience. 

Highlights of the study, which is due to be released Aug. 30, include:

South Plainfield, N.J. -- Global Bay Mobile Technologies, a provider of mobile retail software, announced the deployment of its iPad Retailing solution in 300 Pacific Sunwear stores nationwide. The chain plans to implement the solution in an additional 100 stores by yearend.

San Francisco -- Williams-Sonoma reported Tuesday that profit for the second quarter surged 28% to $39 million, citing online strength and international sales for the improved performance.

Revenue rose 5% to $815 million.

The company has raised its outlook.

Cape Town, South Africa -- A Tuesday report by Bloomberg said that Shoprite Holdings Ltd. has announced plans to speed up its store expansion this year as it faces increased competition from Wal-Mart Stores.

South Africa’s largest retailer by market value, Shoprite said it will add 106 stores by June 2012. That compares with 96 openings in the same period last year. The company currently operates 1,246 stores.