Data & Analytics

In keeping with its renewed focus on EDLP, the average number of promotional pieces per market decreased to two in May compared with 2.8 the prior year, but the average number of pages increased to 40 compared with 30, according to the Chicago-based firm Market Track.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Fortune Brands announced that it has named E. Lee Wyatt as SVP and CFO of its home and security unit.

Wyatt was most recently EVP and CFOat HanesBrands. Prior to joining HanesBrands in advance of its 2006 spin-off, Wyatt served as a VP of Sara Lee and as CFO of Sara Lee branded apparel from 2005 to 2006. His previous executive leadership positions include serving as EVP, CFO and treasurer of Sonic Automotive and as VP administration and CFO of Sealy Corporation.

NEW YORK— J.Crew Group reported that first-quarter revenues decreased 1% to $409.5  million and comparable company sales (which include same-store sales, direct sales and shipping and handling revenues) were down 3% compared with an increase of 16% for the same period last year.

Store sales decreased 3% to $281.2 million, with comparable-store sales decreasing 6%.  Comparable-store sales increased by 15% in the first quarter of fiscal 2010. 

New York City -- Chainstoreage.com columnist Jeff Green challenges the boon of the burgeoning burger concepts, posing the question: “Are burger joints here to stay or just a trendy restaurant theme that will overextend itself and “fall of the map” in a few years?

Check out Jeff’s latest column on the real estate community page: chainstoreage.com/article/burger-bonanza-rare-or-well-done

Toronto -- Sears Canada has replaced more than 130,000 inefficient incandescent spotlights with energy-saving LED lighting in all Sears Home and full-line stores across Canada. The retrofit will reduce the company's electricity use by more than 16 million kilowatt hours (kWh) per year.

Indianapolis -- Lids Sports Group announced the acquisition of Buckeye Corner stores, which operates four stores in the Columbus, Ohio, area. The acquisition also includes Buckeye’s e-commerce website and a catalog business.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Markham, Canada -- Donna Karan Co. is implementing a new merchandise, store and assortment planning software solution, QuickAssortment from Maple Lake, that will enable it to create assortments that align to the purchasing preferences of its customers in each location, as well as via its e-commerce stores.

QuickAnalytics is also being used to provide extensive reporting and
analytical capabilities.

New York City -- With global e-commerce estimated to reach nearly $1.4 trillion in 2015, more and more retailers are looking to gear up or expand their online operations. A new report by Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) sizes up the challenges and opportunities -- and outlines best practices -- for retailers who want to take advantage of e-commerce growth by going global.

The enormity of the Chinese e-commerce opportunity was mentioned last week by Wan Ling Martello at Walmart’s shareholders meeting, when the COO of global e-commerce described how China’s online market is projected to quadruple to $300 billion in five years. Walmart obviously wants to be part of that growth and looked to shorten its learning curve earlier this year by acquiring a minority stake in fast growing online grocer Yihaodian.

On average, across the retailer set, both the number of inserts and number of page counts decreased when comparing the month of May 2011 to May 2010. Notable standouts for the insert counts include a decline of 39% for Home Depot and an 11% decrease for Lowe’s.  While both Home Depot and Lowe’s dropped fewer inserts this year compared to last year, Home Depot’s decline was more pronounced from nearly seven inserts in 2010 to four in 2011.