News Briefs

Retailers can expect a delayed back-to-school shopping season as shifts in consumer spending are affecting what, when and if consumers make purchases.

Discretionary general merchandise spending continued to decline in July, with a 4% drop in dollar sales and a 7% drop in unit sales compared to the year-ago period, according to Circana, formerly IRI and The NPD Group. The declines continued into the first week of August, with another 5% year-over-year decline in sales revenue and an 8% drop in unit sales. 

Overall retail sales revenue increased 2% compared to the same month last year. Unit sales declined 2%. Circana noted that the impact of elevated prices on demand was evident in CPG, with unit sales in July falling 1% and 3% respectively across edible and non-edible segments.

The established shifts in consumer spending behavior are resulting in a delayed start to the back-to-school shopping season, according to Circana.  The first week of August is traditionally a peak back-to-school shopping week. But this year, BTS general merchandise sales revenue slipped, falling below last year and pre-pandemic 2019 levels.

“Consumers are holding off on making some of their purchases, which will cause more of the back-to-school retail sales to occur after the traditional shopping period,”  noted Marshal Cohen, chief retail industry advisor for Circana.

Back-to-school shopping isn’t absent, he added, but the season will be late, with more sales hitting in late August, September, and even October.

“Retailers and manufacturers need to find the trigger points that will motivate the consumer to start to spend, despite reprioritization and the various economic challenges they are facing,” said Cohen.

 

 

Design Within Reach (DWR) opened the doors to its 36th location this week in the City of Brotherly Love. 

The home decor retailer’s newest location opened on August 14 in Philadelphia’s Ardmore neighborhood. Ardmore is located in Philadelphia’s Suburban Square shopping district in the city’s storied Main Line region. The 4,200-sq.-ft. store, which is situated in a building built in the mid-20^th century, features original stone exterior, and is flooded with natural light from windows lining the perimeter of the space. 

A wide assortment of modern furniture and accessories are displayed in various room vignettes. Each section is designed to create a layered, aesthetically diverse residential environment that evolves as shoppers move throughout the space. The displays, which feature Postmodern, Bauhaus Industrial and Modern Pastoral-inspired themes, enable customers to easily visualize how pieces could fit into their personal spaces.

“Philadelphia is a dynamic city with a flourishing art and design community, and we are excited to bring DWR’s unparalleled offerings to the market,” said Debbie Propst, president of global retail for MillerKnoll, parent company of Design Within Reach. “When you pair our thoughtfully curated assortment with the expertise and high-quality complimentary design services from our account executives, the shopping experience at DWR Ardmore is truly unmatched.”

Design Within Reach, which was founded in 1998, is an omnichannel retailer. The company joined The MillerKnoll collective — a portfolio of 15 home decor and furnishings brands — in 2015. 

The nation’s C-store industry is heading into the last five months of the year with momentum.  

Two in three convenience-store retailers (66%) report that their sales for the first seven months are higher than over the same period last year, according to a new survey released by NACS. Only 12% say sales are lower so far this year. 

NACS’ CSX database of industry metrics shows similarly positive numbers. Through the first six months of 2023, in-store sales were up 9.4% compared to the same period in 2022.

Retailers are bullish about the convenience channel’s sales for the rest of 2023. One-third of all convenience retailers said that convenience stores were the best positioned of six channels for success over the rest of 2023, followed by online retailers (32%) and dollar stores (14%).

As to top industry concerns, the labor shortage remains top of mind. Nearly half of all retailers (44%) listed it as their top concern, followed by inflation, credit card swipe fees, government regulation, shoplifting and organized retail theft.

With locations in every community in the country, convenience stores contribute more than $1 billion a year to charitable causes that enhance their communities. Preventing underage access to age-restricted products, the core deliverable of the NACS TruAge  program, was cited as the top (56%) community issue for the industry to address.

The other top issues were wellness/nutrition (48%) and human trafficking (38%). 

The NACS Member Survey was conducted by NACS Research and was closed on August 4. A total of 170 retailer member companies participated in the survey. NACS Research conducts quarterly custom research with retailer members to identify key priorities and opportunities across the convenience and fuel retail landscape. 

A 20-year McKinsey veteran is joining the c-suite at Macy’s Inc.

The department store company named Massimo (Max) Magni as chief customer and digital officer, effective August 21.He will report to Tony Spring, president and CEO-elect, Macy’s Inc. (Spring will take the reins from Jeff Gennette, who is retiring in February 2024.)

 Magni is 20-year veteran of McKinsey & Company, where he was most recently a senior partner co-leading McKinsey’s NeXT Commerce and the global leader of the Consumer Growth Practices,  helping clients develop customer-centric and data-driven initiatives to drive profitable and sustainable growth.

In his new role, Max will guide the strategic long-term vision and growth of Macy’s Inc.’s digital business for Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s divisions.The business will be aligned on customer-centric strategies that leverage data and analytics to enhance the consumer journey across various touchpoints, which include the e-commerce sites, mobile apps, loyalty, gift registry programs and marketplace formats, the company said. 

“He [Magni] brings to the team an innovative, customer-led mindset that will help advance our digital business and strengthen our customer relationships,” said Spring. “His passion for and experience with portfolio optimization, e-commerce and digital analytics transformation makes him a great fit for the organization.”

Harvey S. Kanter is staying put — at least for three more years.

Destination XL Group said that its board has entered into an amended employment agreement with Kanter to extend the term of his role as president and CEO of the men’s big and tall retailer into “at least” mid-August 2026.  His term was originally set to end in April 2025.

Kanter has served in the position since April 1, 2019. Prior to that, he was president and CEO of digitally native jewelry retailer Blue Nile.

“The company has embarked on a long-range growth plan, and we expect that the success which the company has achieved since navigating the pandemic will be just a stepping stone to even greater levels of success,” said Lionel Conacher, chairman, Destination XL Group. “With Harvey’s proven track record of creating shareholder value, we look forward to his continued successful leadership.”

In a Q&A with Chain Store Age in January, Kantar discussed the chain’s growth strategy, which includes the remodeling of its DXL stores, and how it is using technology to better serve customers.

“I am thrilled to be able to be leading the company on its long-term growth initiatives,” said Kanter in the release about his contract.  “DXLG has a lot of “blue sky” ahead and with our efforts to achieve our long-term growth goals, I believe the positive results will be transformative.”

Based in Canton, Mass., Destination XL Group subsidiaries operate DXL Big + Tall retail and outlet stores and Casual Male XL retail and outlet stores throughout the United States.

The Home Depot topped second-quarter Street estimates even as its earnings and revenue fell amid a pull back in big-ticket spending. 

The home improvement giant reported net income of $ $4.659 billion, or $4.65 per share, in the quarter ended July 30, down from $5.173 billion, or $5.05 per share, in the year-ago period. Analysts had been expecting earnings per share of $4.45. 

Sales fell 2% to $42.916 billion from $43.792 billion a year ago, topping estimates of $42.193 billion. Same-store sales fell for the third consecutive month, decreasing 2% from the year-ago quarter.  

The average ticket was nearly flat, at $90.07. Sales per retail square foot were $684.65 versus $700.62 in the same quarter last year. 

"We were pleased with our performance in the second quarter," said Ted Decker, chair, president and CEO. "While there was strength in categories associated with smaller projects, we did see continued pressure in certain big-ticket, discretionary categories. We remain very positive on the medium-to-long term outlook for home improvement and our ability to grow share in a large and fragmented market.”

The retailer said that its board of directors authorized a new $15 billion share repurchase program, effective August 15.

The Home Depot reiterated its full-year guidance, which it lowered last quarter.

At the end of the second quarter, the company operated a total of 2,326 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico.