There's some good news for shoppers; retail spaces left vacant by Gottschalks will be filled by some fashion favorites!
Retail giant Macy's, made the winning bid on Gottschalks locations in River Park and the Visalia Mall in an auction on Thursday as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.
Forever 21 also made a bid, landing Gottschalk's locations in the Hanford Mall as well as Fashion Fair Mall.
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Consumer confidence jumped in May to its highest level since September. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index now stands at 54.9, up from 40.8 in April.
The index is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households.
“Looking ahead, consumers are considerably less pessimistic than they were earlier this year, and expectations are that business conditions, the labor market and incomes will improve in the coming months,” said Lynn Franco, director of the
Conference Board Consumer Research Center. “While confidence is still weak by historical standards, as far as consumers are concerned, the worst is now behind us."
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Discount clothing and home goods retailer The TJX Companies, Inc. (
TJX) said Tuesday that its first quarter profit climed 8% from last year’s levels, as consumers in the current economic recession frequented its discount stores looking for bargains.
The Framingham, Massachusetts-based company reported first quarter net income of $209.2 million, or 49 cents per share, compared with $193.8 million, or 43 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Overall sales for the company, which operates TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods stores, rose 1% in the period to $4.35 billion.
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CHICAGO -
Lowe’s Cos. Inc. said shoppers buying paints, plants and replacement parts in the first quarter helped the home-improvement chain beat Wall Street forecasts and prompted it to boost its full-year outlook.
The results sent the company’s shares higher Monday as the company said business was “less bad” in all regions of the country and that economic conditions may – slowly – be improving.
“In recent weeks we have seen consumer confidence improve, housing turnover show signs of a bottom in certain markets, and home prices slow their decline,” Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Niblock said in a statement.
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The Home Depot Inc. did better than expected in the first quarter, posting net income growth of 44.4 percent.
The Atlanta-based home improvement retailer had net income of $514 million and earnings of 30 cents a share, compared with net income of $356 million and earnings of 21 cents a share in the same period of 2008.
Analysts were projecting earnings of 28 cents a share for the first quarter of 2009.
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WASHINGTON – Demand for big-ticket manufactured goods and new home sales both were better than expected in March, raising hopes that the long slides in manufacturing and housing are slowly coming to an end.
The Commerce Department said Friday that orders for durable goods dropped 0.8 percent last month, about half the 1.5 percent decline that economists expected. A rise in orders for commercial and military aircraft helped cushion weakness elsewhere.
The small drop followed a 2.1 percent increase in orders in February. That was the first gain after six straight monthly declines.
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Foreclosures dropped sharply last month across the Valley as lenders backed off in anticipation of new federal loan modification and refinancing programs, according to the latest existing home sales report from Arizona State University's Realty Studies Department.
Foreclosures represented 31 percent of existing home transactions last month, down from 51 percent in February. Foreclosures will remain a primary concern in the coming months with the end of many lender hiatus programs and the weak job market, said Jay Butler, ASU realty studies director.
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Big Lots Inc. stores often operate in aged retail centers aimed at discount-minded shoppers, but its next venture will move it into a new neighborhood.
The Columbus-based closeout merchandise seller will open a 35,000-square-foot store near the Polaris Fashion Place mall, in a former
Linens ‘n Things Inc. storefront vacated last year when the home goods retailer closed.
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A spokesperson for IKEA in China said the Swedish home furnishings multinational had, like B&Q, been impacted by the economic downturn.
Linda Xu, public relations manager for the company, admitted times were difficult for the home improvement market.
"We can also see the negative impact to IKEA's business from the global financial turbulence. We see the customer is more cautious about spending money. We, however, have more visitors to our stores but less spending on average," she said.
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If there are silver linings to the recession, they're not immediately apparent. After all, the national unemployment rate is 8.1 percent, the highest since 1983, and economists predict it will reach 9 percent by 2010. Gross domestic product is forecast to shrink more this year than at any other time since the Great Depression. And across the country, stores are closing, municipal budgets are tightening, and banks are begging for bailouts.
But a handful of industries, companies, and products are doing well—relatively speaking. They run the gamut from Quarter Pounders to contraceptives, but they share a key component: Whether they help people pivot to new careers, cut costs at home, or simply escape from all the bad news, they're poised not only to weather the economic storm but to, in some way, benefit from it. "There always is a silver lining for people who choose to look past the doom and gloom and find one," says Robyn Feldberg, president of the National Résumé Writers' Association, which represents an industry that's bucking the overall trend. "In adversity, there is always potential for innovation."
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SPRING HILL -
Warm weather and a stout Valentine's Day shopping crowd helped make last week a favorable one for the retail industry.
The week ending Feb. 14 was the third consecutive week-to-week improvement in the retail sector, according to the
International Council of Shopping Centers out of New York.
Some forecasters think the recent numbers are an indication an upswing is not far away.
"It is a sign that things are going to improve this year," said ICSC spokeswoman Erin Hershkowitz.
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EVEN before the economy tanked, discount stores, or dollar stores as Americans call them, were looking healthy. Now their profits are rising like helium-filled balloons. Dollar Tree, a Virginia-based chain of dollar stores, had sales of more than $1.39 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, a 6.8 % increase over the year before. For the whole of 2008, Dollar Tree, which has been in business since 1953, notched up record sales of $4.64 billion.
Family Dollar is prospering, too. The market value of this company, based in North Carolina and with more than 6,600 stores in 44 states, rose 36% last year. Other dollar-store companies have also reported big profits.
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Minneapolis (March 3, 2009) Target Corp. announced Tuesday the opening of 27 stores, including its first two locations in the state of Hawaii.
The new stores, which include 21 general-merchandise locations and six SuperTargets, will hold a grand opening on Sunday, March 8.
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Memphis, Tenn. (March 3, 2009) AutoZone reported on Tuesday net sales of $1.4 billion for its second quarter ended Feb. 14, an increase of 8.1% from fiscal second quarter 2008.
Domestic same-store sales increased 6% for the quarter.
Net income for the quarter increased $9.2 million, or 8.6%, over the same period last year to $115.9 million.
"At the end of the second quarter, our balance sheet was in excellent condition, and we remain committed to our disciplined approach of growing operating earnings while utilizing our capital effectively," said Bill Rhodes, chairman, president and CEO.
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Natick, Mass. (March 4, 2009) BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. on Wednesday reported better-than-expected results with the news that its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 5% partly on favorable state income tax audit settlements.
Earnings for the quarter ended Feb. 2 climbed to $52.7 million, from $50.2 million in the same quarter a year ago.
Revenue grew 3% to $2.56 billion from $2.48 billion. Same-store sales increased 1.7%. Excluding gas, same-club sales rose 6.4%.
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By Caleb Hellerman
CNN Medical Producer
Mark Wooten, 41, was devastated when his supervisor told him in November that he was being laid off from his job as a forklift operator in Norfolk, Virginia. It was the first time in his adult life he'd been out work; just a month earlier, he and his wife Caprice had moved into a new apartment with their two 15-year-old daughters.
"It's hard," Mark said. "We've made tremendous cutbacks."
When the Wootens sat down to plan a survival strategy, they agreed to make big changes. But there was one unconventional change: They hit the gym with a vengeance.
Caprice, 40, a hospital technician, had been struggling to stick with an exercise routine. With time to spare, Mark told her he would lend a hand; he needed to work off his own stress.
"Me being out of work and trying to file for
unemployment, going through hard times and tribulations -- I told [Caprice], 'You can be my inspiration, and I can be yours. We'll keep each other motivated, even on days we don't want nothing to do with the gym,' " Mark said.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Whole Foods Market Inc(
WFMI.O) posted a quarterly profit that beat Wall Street estimates and forecast 2009 earnings ahead of analyst estimates, sending its shares up nearly 8 percent after-hours.
The grocery chain, which specializes in organic, natural and gourmet foods, said it was finding ways to cut costs and as shoppers pare more expensive items from their lists.
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Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) --
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, reported January sales that exceeded its projection and said it will stop giving a monthly forecast, citing difficulty in predicting consumer behavior.
Revenue from U.S. stores open at least a year advanced 2.1 percent last month as discounted groceries and $4 medicines brought in more customers, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said today in a statement. That beat Wal-Mart’s forecast for no change to a 2 percent increase.
The company said it is switching to quarterly forecasts and anticipates comparable-store sales in the U.S. will rise 1 percent to 3 percent in the period from Jan. 31 through May 1. Last month, Wal-Mart reduced prices on hamburger buns, Hormel Foods Corp. chili with beans and Sony Corp. flat-panel televisions to grab customers eating and entertaining more at home.
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Produce sales at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores have increased more than 11 percent since its January introduction of 98-cent Produce Packs, according to the Tesco banner.
Designed to appeal to customers looking for fresh fruits and vegetables on a budget, the 98-cent Produce Packs are delivered fresh daily to stores and currently include grape tomatoes, yellow onions, green bell peppers, pears, lemons and oranges. Customers can always choose from six fruits and vegetables that will rotate depending on seasonality and availability.
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