News

PriceSmart grows May sales
San Diego – PriceSmart Inc. increased net and same-store sales during May 2015. Net sales increased 14% to $230.2 million, from $202.3 million in May a year earlier.

Same-store sales rose 4.6%. There were 36 warehouse clubs in operation at the end of May 2015.
Sears Hometown profits, sales fall in Q1
Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores Inc. reported falling profits and sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2015. Lower online commissions from Sears Holdings, lower initial franchise revenues, and lower delivery income helped reduce net income to $2.15 million from $3.68 million.

Net sales in the first quarter of 2015 decreased 1% to $582.8 million from $589.9 million. This decrease was driven primarily by a 1.2% decrease in same-store sales.

What to Do When Activists Attack

Today, CEOs and corporate board members of retail chains must run simply to stand still. Executives of publicly traded retailers face intensive pressure from activist investors to quickly and decisively increase shareholder value. Activists are known to secretly accumulate a significant stake in a company and without notice blind side the CEO with risky restructuring plans, force firms into unwanted mergers to removing board members and CEOs that disagree with their speculative strategy.
GE Capital: Mid-market retailers sound positive note

New York -- Just under half of retail firms expect industry expansion, and over two-thirds will consider seeking additional financing in the coming year. And 45% believe the sector will expand in the year ahead. That’s according to a survey by GE Capital of C-suite executives at middle market companies (ranging from $10 million to less than $1 billion in sales).

Performance in the middle-market retail sector was positive over the past year, the survey found, with 75% of firms reporting improved year-over-year financial performance.
Target to go mad for plaid

Target has quietly announced its next Lilly Pulitzer: a collaboration with another U.S. designer who will create a collection of new apparel, accessories, pet goods and home furnishings for the retailer.

Target announced on its Bullseye blog this week that it has chosen Adam Lippes to create more than 50 items inspired by buffalo plaid for the Adam Lippes for Target.
Execs with Amazon and Nike experience join Razorfish

Digital design and marketing consultancy Razorfish made two key hires to bolster the capabilities of its rapidly growing commerce practice led by Commerce Strategy head Jason Goldberg.

Jon Reily and Steve White were named vice presidents of commerce strategy and both will report to Goldberg. The hire are said to help the agency meet the increasing demand from clients looking for partners able to combine commerce strategy with world-class delivery to reinvent and digitize their retail channels.
RSR Research: Retailers underestimate digital influence

Walnut Creek, Calif. -- Retailers underestimate how much digital technology influences physical shopping experiences, but their expectations are rapidly catching up to reality. According to a new study from RSR Research, “Commerce Convergence: Closing the Gap between Consumer and Brand,” while 84% of retailers surveyed say a digital presence is very important to build brand awareness, but only 64% say it is very important to drive traffic to stores.
IHL: EMV costly, time consuming, out of date for most retailers

Franklin, Tenn. - The new EMV card payment mandate may not provide financial ROI for retailers. According to new research from IHL Group, most retailers will never recoup the expense that EMV imposes.
Study: Retail sales, traffic, transactions drop in May

San Jose, Calif. – Retail sales dropped 7.6% in May 2015 compared to the same month the prior year. According to the monthly Store Performance Pulse from store analytics provider RetailNext, a 9.8% decrease in traffic and 8.3% drop in transactions drove the sales decline.

Much of these declines were concentrated in the third week of the month, leading to an earlier-than-usual Memorial Day weekend.
Report: Ahead of meeting, Walmart unveils changes to come

Walmart has unveiled upcoming changes to its website, stores and employee badges ahead of today's shareholders' meeting in Bentonville, Ark.

According to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Walmart execs told a meeting of employees on Wednesday that it plans to spend at least $1.5 billion in upgrades to its e-commerce sites, store design and employee name badges.