News

The nation’s retailers can hope back-to-school shoppers haven’t been paying attention to the steady dose of dire economic news facing the nation the past week, but that’s pretty unlikely considering this is the information age.

Target produced another month of solid same-store sales growth in July and had a lot of good things to say about its future prospects. But judging from the action in the company’s share price in the intervening days, it was as if second-quarter earnings per share had come in well short of analysts’ expectations. Target got caught up in the selling free-for-all that occurred on Friday when it appeared the United States was in for a credit rating downgrade followed by a further acceleration on Monday after the downgrade occurred.

New York City -- Finish Line has chosen Maxymiser, a global expert in conversion rate optimization solutions, to perform website testing and segmentation for finishline.com. Maxymiser will help Finish Line successfully implement website optimization to improve the online customer experience and achieve business goals.

New York City -- Sam’s Club has selected DemandTec’s Deal Management software service to enhance its eValues program.

Reston, Va. -- Online U.S. retail spending in second quarter 2011 reached $37.5 billion for the quarter, up 14% versus year ago, comScore reported Monday. This growth rate represented the seventh consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and third consecutive quarter of double-digit growth rates.

It seems like everybody wants to get in the outlet business these days. In particular, there are a growing number of “traditional mall” developers that seem to be seriously considering -- or in some cases, actively pursuing -- the development of outlet centers or the conversion of existing traditional mall assets into outlets. On the heels of Gap’s announcement to close 200 of their full-price stores by 2013 and concentrate on expanding their Gap outlets and Banana Republic Factory Stores, I understand why developers are seriously thinking about outlet centers.

By Fred Stiftel, [email protected]

Oakbrook, Ill. -- McDonald's Corp. said Monday that its global same-store sales climbed 5.1% in July, buoyed by ongoing strength abroad and sales of its McCafe beverage and staples such as Chicken McNuggets.

By segment, same-store sales rose 5.3% in Europe. The Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa experienced a 4% gain, while the United States posted a 4.4% increase.

Last month McDonald's reported a 15% increase in second-quarter net income as it continued to entice customers to buy new menu items.
 

Los Angeles -- American Apparel announced the extension of its partnership with ASOS. The U.K.-based fashion site, which has more than 3.7 million members, has expanded its buy of American Apparel products based on a 100% sell-through rate of a test buy earlier this year.

The seventh installment in the Family Movie Night entertainment initiative between Procter & Gamble and Walmart is set to air this Saturday at 8 p.m. on NBC. The made-for-TV movie, Who is Simon Miller?, is billed as a heart-pounding summer spy drama that tests the limits to which families will fight for each other that will keep the whole family riveted.