News

Washington, D.C. – U.S. consumer spending fell by $8.1 billion, or 0.1%, in April 2014. It was the first monthly decline in consumer spending since April 2013 and followed a 1% increase of $117.6 billion the previous month.

Genesco’s first-quarter results may have been tepid, but the company highlighted its second quarter, which is off to a solid start with a comparable sales increase of 3% through May 24, and expressed confidence that it can build on the current momentum.

The company reported net earnings of $13.97 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, down 3% from $14.41 million in the same quarter last year. An increase in selling and administrative expenses drove the net earnings decline.

Nashville, Tenn. – Genesco Inc. reported net earnings of $13.97 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, down 3% from $14.41 million in the same quarter of the prior fiscal year. A jump in selling and administrative expenses drove the net earnings decline.

Meanwhile, net sales rose 6% to $629 million, from $591 million. Same-store sales grew 1%. Genesco expects a low-single-digit same-store sales increase for the full fiscal year.

Memphis, Tenn. – Fred’s Inc. cited higher income taxes as contributing to declining net income in the first quarter of fiscal 2014. Net income totaled $6.1 million, down 46% from $11.4 million in the same quarter in the previous year.

Fred's total sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 were $498.3 million, down slightly from $501.5 million for the first quarter last year. Same-store sales for the quarter declined 1.9%.

Canton, Mass. – The costs of converting its Casual Male XL banner to the DXL banner helped Destination XL swing to a net loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2014. The retailer reported a net loss of $3.5 million, compared to net income of $1 million last year.

For the quarter, total sales were $96.8 million, up 3% from $94 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2013. The increase in total sales was primarily due to an increase in same-store sales of 3.4%

Profitect, a leading pattern seeking analytics provider for the retail industry, has added Ahold USA as its latest customer. Profitect is rolled out in Ahold's Giant Landover division.

Ahold USA will leverage Profitect's integrated data to improve its shrink performance by replacing legacy reporting approaches, which require large volumes of information to be interpreted, with automated resolution processes. The Profitect closed loop system creates accountability, the company said, by ensuring employees identify and resolve opportunities impacting the business.

New York – Verizon Enterprise Solutions has recently introduced a location-based service that will allow retail organizations to offer real-time benefits to their customers, such as proximity-based specials and fraud detection. Verizon Location Data Services, powered by Locaid, is available now to enterprise retail clients in the U.S.

Savvy consumer packaged goods and retail marketers already know the value of leveraging social media to drive sales and now Twitter has equipped them with a new tool to more effectively engage shoppers.

The social media platform recently introduced a new creative ad unit called the “Website Card” which enables advertisers to perform the neat trick of surfacing Web site content within a Tweet. Doings so allows advertisers to then drive traffic to any page of their site such as a specific product page, relevant blog post or notworthy review.