Retail sales fell 2.2 percent for the November/December holiday shopping season, the biggest decline in almost 30 tears, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. The 1.7% drop in December sales came on the heels of a 2.7 percent decline during the previous month, as consumers fretted about tightened budgets and job insecurity. The [...]
“For the 48 weeks ended Jan. 3, Barnes & Noble store sales decreased 2.6% to $4.2 billion, while same-store sales decreased 5.4%.” Online sales for the period dropped 0.4 percent to $422.9 million. The Wall Street Journal Jan. 8, 2008 Paid subscription may be required.
“The International Council of Shopping Centers … described November’s figures as the weakest in more than 35 years. Declines were recorded in every retail segment the group tracks, with the biggest coming from department stores…” where sales were down 13.3 percent compared with November a year ago, and specialty apparel retailers, where sales were down [...]
The NYT reports on signs of a new coupon chic. Among them, Time Inc.’s Wal-Mart-only All You is offering subscribers to a new weekly e-mail newsletter, All You Deals and Meals, an advance look at coupons to appear in the coming issue of the magazine. The New York Times (Dec. 4, 2008)
Casting a pall over the Hoiday season, the Commerce Department reported Friday U.S. retail sales dropped by 2.8% in October, the largest monthly drop since it began keeping this particular, broad measure of retail sales in 1992. It was the fourth straight month of declines in consumer spending. The Wall Street Journal (Nov. 17, 2008) [...]
Shares outstanding will be cut by 10 to 20 times the current 830 million if the reverse split is approved by shareholders. The move is planned to boost the company’s share price back above $1.00 to avoid de-listing on the NYSE. “Rite Aid is among a number of companies whose shares have tumbled … [...]
News reports today indicate that CVS Caremark may complete its purchase of Longs Drug Stores as soon as today for $71.50 a share in cash (or about $2.5 billion), which would increase CVS’s 6,200 store locations by 520 — making CVS the largest drug operator. Supermarket News Oct. 20, 2008
Frugal all year, U.S. consumers appear to be pulling back sharply on consumer spending in recent weeks, as the financial crisis has deepened. Economists are now predicting that spending shrank in the quarter just ended, which, if true, would be the first quarterly decline in almost twenty years. The New York Times (Oct. 5, 2008)
Consumer spending in August turned in its weakest performance since the last “flat” month — February. Some observers attribute the poor performance to the drying-up of the government stimulas well. The last of those checks went out mid-July. The New York Times (Sept. 29, 2008)
The showdown between Wal-Mart and Tesco starts October 4th in Phoenix, Arizona, where the first four Wal-Mart Marketside stores will open. Wal-Mart’s 15,000-square-foot, small-format grocery stores are seen as a direct competitor to the 78 Fresh & Easy stores Tesco has opened in western states this year. Reuters (Sept. 23, 2008)