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 retail chain Ross Stores, Inc. (
ROST) said Thursday that its first quarter profit rose substantially year-over-year, as cost-conscious consumers hunted for bargains amid the economic recession.
The Pleasanton, California-based company reported first quarter net income of $91.4 million, or 72 cents per
share, compared with $79.5 million, or 60 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Overall revenue jumped 9% to $1.69 billion from $1.56 billion in the same period last year.
On average, Wall Street analysts expected matching profits of 72 cents per share, on lower revenue of $1.66 billion.
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Department store operator Stein Mart Inc. said Thursday that its profit more than doubled in the first quarter as it significantly reduced expenses.
Earnings soared to $16.1 million, or 38 cents per share, for the three months ended May 2 compared with $7 million, or 17 cents per share, a year ago.
The company slashed its selling, general and administrative expenses to $79.9 million from $91.5 million.
Sales dropped 9 percent to $319.6 million from $352.1 million in the prior year.
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Pet supplies retailer PetSmart Inc. said Wednesday its first-quarter profit rose 12 percent on higher merchandise and service sales.
The company earned $46.3 million, or 37 cents per share, compared with profit of $41.2 million, or 32 cents per share, during the same period a year prior. Revenue increased 9 percent to $1.33 billion from $1.21 billion. The fiscal 2009 first-quarter ended May 3 and the full year ends in January.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected profit of 30 cents per share on revenue of $1.35 billion.
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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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Dollar stores are becoming increasingly popular with middle- and upper-class consumers as the recession drags on, according to new analysis from The Nielsen Company. Nielsen research shows that dollar stores are outpacing other CPG retail channels among shoppers of all income levels.
According to the analysis, 18% of high income shoppers spent more at dollar stores during the second half of 2008 than they did during the second half of 2007. This growth surpassed the 6% of middle-income shoppers who increased their dollar store spending and even the 8% of low-income shoppers who spent more at dollar stores during the second half of 2008,
writes Retailer Daily.
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Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. on Monday reported a 10 percent gain in profit for the fiscal third quarter and raised its adjusted guidance for the year.
The grocery store operator said after the market closed that it earned $16.6 million, or 30 cents per share, for the quarter ended April 1. That's up from $15 million, or 28 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter.
Total sales grew slightly to $1.73 billion for the quarter from $1.72 billion.
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Discount retailer Dollar Tree Inc. said Thursday its same-store sales and total sales were stronger than expected in the first quarter as customer traffic increased.
Dollar Tree said same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least one year, grew 9.2 percent in the fiscal first quarter. Its total sales rose 14 percent, to $1.2 billion from $1.05 billion. In February, the company said same-store sales would grow in the low- to mid-single digits, and total sales would be between $1.13 billion to $1.16 billion.
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New customer additions and recent acquisition fuel growth helped Nash Finch post a 13.5 percent first-quarter sales gain of $1.14 billion, from $1 billion in the prior-year quarter during the 12-week period ended March 28, 2009. Excluding the impact of the sales increase of $112 million attributable to the acquisition of three military distribution centers at the end of January, total company sales increased 2.4 percent relative to last year. The Minneapolis distributor said the first quarter of 2009 was negatively affected by the shift of Easter to the second quarter in 2009 from the first quarter in 2008, which created a sales variance in the first quarter of about $8.4 million, or 0.8 percent. Excluding the impact of the acquired distribution centers and the Easter shift, comparable sales increased 3.2 percent.
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Edward Jones apparently didn't get the memo that there's a recession going on and that the financial markets have tanked.
The St. Louis-based investment brokerage has big retail expansion plans for the Valley, plus further growth at its campus in Tempe. The slump hasn't derailed those efforts.
"We have identified this as a great opportunity to serve more clients," said Andrea Feeney, a department leader at the Tempe campus who is working on the Valley expansion.
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Consumer electronics chain Radioshack has reported better-than-expected figures for its first quarter, the first welcome indicators for the consumer electronics industry in recent months. For the quarter, net profit was up 11.1% to $43.1m (34 cents a share), from $38.8m (30 cents) last year. Sales were up 5.6% year-on-year to $1bn, while same-store sales rose 5% (up 6.2% on a calendar-adjusted basis).
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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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The Valley's new home market showed more promise last month as both sales and construction permits increased, according to the latest Phoenix Housing Market Letter by analyst RL Brown.
New home sales totaled 912 last month, up from 713 in February but still down from 1,890 in March 2008. Sales had fallen slightly from January to February.
Most of the sales were of inventory or speculative homes - those built without having a contracted buyer - helping to diminish the amount of inventory homes on the market, Brown said. Sales were up despite "really stiff" competition from bank-owned homes, he said.
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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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The West Valley got a huge bite of spring training action this year, attracting 805,110 baseball fans, a jump from 505,134 in 2008.
More than half of the Cactus League's 1.57 million visitors attended games west of Interstate 17.
The economic punch that carries is not broken down by cities, but the league estimates the statewide economic impact at $359 million.
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In March, there were 200 more new-homes sales across the Valley than the month before. That may not sound like much, but it's significant in the current slowdown.
Last month, 912 new homes sold across
metropolitan Phoenix, a 28 percent increase from February, according to RL Brown's latest "Phoenix Housing Market Letter."
Even better for the market is that many of the recently sold new homes were built last year or the year before, either speculatively or for buyers who pulled out of deals. Depleting the inventory of built-but-unsold homes will help the area market rebound.
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Spring brings little sprouts of recovery for the Valley’s housing market. Arizona was one of the first states to feel the housing market crash and now appears to be one of the first heading toward recovery.
The
front page of Friday’s USA Today shows Arizona’s housing slump will begin to turn this year. New research from the University of Utah shows the glut of homes for sale here will sell off enough to bring back the demand for new home construction.
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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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Discount chain 99 Cents Only Stores said its fourth-quarter sales grew 13.3 percent as consumers looked for more bargains amid the lingering recession.
Chief Executive Eric Schiffer said the chain is seeing many new customers who are looking to save money on their everyday purchases, including "perishable food and other consumable items."
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PriceSmart Inc. said Wednesday that its profit rose 34 percent in the fiscal second quarter on improved sales.
The warehouse club operator earned $12.7 million, or 43 cents per share. That compares with $9.5 million, or 33 cents per share, a year ago.
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TORONTO, April 8 (Reuters) - Forzani Group (
FGL.TO) plans to open more than 25 new stores this year as the country's biggest sporting goods retailer takes advantage of a weak economy and an increase in available property.
Calgary-based Forzani, whose banners include Sport Chek, Sports Experts and Coast Mountain Sports, said on Wednesday it had earmarked about C$30 million to C$35 million for capital expenditures in its 2010 fiscal year, mostly for the store openings.
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Bed Bath & Beyond's fourth-quarter profit fell more than 18 percent but still topped Wall Street estimates even as same-store sales dipped, the company reported Tuesday.
The news sent shares of the home decor chain into overdrive in after-hours trading.
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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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Discount retailer Dollar General Corp. said Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit rose 48 percent on a rise in sales and cost cuts.
Dollar General and its competitors, such as Family Dollar Stores, have benefited as consumers watch every dollar they spend and seek out cheaper goods.
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Woolworths Limited (WOW) said first quarter sales were up 9.6% to $12.82 billion.
The company also maintained its full year sales outlook. Chief executive officer Michael Luscombe said it was a good start to the financial year.
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The supermarket Wm Morrison said yesterday it would open small shops for the first time as the economic downturn gave it scope to speed up its expansion.
Marc Bolland, chief executive, said the group had identified more than 100 locations for new stores and had halted a £1bn share buyback to "preserve its firepower". The recession has weighed heavily on commercial property values and
Morrisons said it wanted "maximum financial flexibility" to go shopping for stores.
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Hardware chain Clas Ohlson has reported a lower-than-expected drop in pre-tax profit for its third quarter, even as sales were up by a modest amount. For the quarter, pre-tax profit was down 8.7% to SEK240.2m (E21.3m), compared to SEK263m last year, beating analyst expectations of a profit of SEK227m. Sales meanwhile rose by 3% year-on-year to SEK1.54bn.
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