News

By Bill Dundas, International Sign Association

New York City -- In a heavy promotional environment starring early sales and steep discounting, the department store players turned in mixed performances in November. Industry-wide retail sales on Black Friday rose 7% to $11.4 billion, the largest amount ever spent, according to ShopperTrak.

Target previously acknowledged that the return of layaway at Walmart impacted its early-season toy sales, and now comes another interesting revelation in Target’s November sales release.

Columbus, Ohio -- Express Inc. reported Thursday that profit for the quarter ended Oct. 29 climbed 24% to $32.7 million, from $26.3 million in the year-ago period.

Revenue increased 8% to $486.8 million, just missing Wall Street’s expected $488.2 million, and same-store sales increase 5%.

Online sales surged 41%.
 

FORT WORTH, Texas — Comps continue to improve at Pier 1 Imports, thanks to increased traffic and average ticket size. The company reported that comparable-store sales for the third quarter increased 7%. This was on top of a 10.2% comps increase in the prior-year period. Total sales for the quarter increased 8.2% to $383 million compared with $354 million in the year-ago quarter.

New York City -- Cross-channel merchandise planning and assortment solution provider 7thonline said Thursday that sports brand Oakley has selected 7thonline Merchandise and Assortment Management to increase the productivity of its inventory and merchandising process.

The solution includes merchandise financial planning, visual and analytical assortment planning, in-season OTB management and forecasting, and embedded business intelligence, based on powerful optimization engines.

Atlanta -- A report released Thursday by First Data Corp., which tracks same-store consumer spending via credit, signature debit, PIN debit and EBT cards at U.S. merchant locations, found that dollar volume for the Thursday-Friday shopping period grew 6.3% over last year, and transaction growth was 7.3%.

The First Data SpendTrend analysis showed that Electronic/Appliances, Clothing and Accessory Stores, and NonStore Retailers were some of the merchant categories that saw a boost in dollar volume growth this year.

Cincinnati -- Kroger Co. on Thursday raised its full-year forecast and also projected earnings growth for its next fiscal year that was ahead of long-term goals even as its profit slipped 2% in the third quarter.

The chain reported profit of $195.9 million profit for the quarter ended Nov. 5, down from $202.2 million a year earlier. Still, its results topped Wall Street expectations.