retail sales

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Retail Fears Drive Stocks Down
 Retail Fears Drive Stocks Down 
MARKET Open
Nov 6, 2008 8:51 AM CST

Retail Fears Drive Stocks Down

Same-store sales weak in October

(Newser) - Stocks took a modest slide at the open today, thanks to dismal data from retailers. The Dow fell 57 points, while the Nasdaq and S&P dropped 1.1% and 0.9% respectively, the Wall Street Journal reports. Most retailers, with the notable exception of Wal-Mart, posted bleak same-store sales...

Economic Squeeze Means Merry Christmas for Wal-Mart

Retailer expects blockbuster season as cash-strapped shoppers seek bargains

(Newser) - Wal-Mart is readying for bumper sales while most US retailers brace themselves for a miserable holiday season, the New York Times reports. Squeezed consumers are flocking to the discount chain as the economic downturn begins to bite. The firm is expected to report a modest increase in sales for October,...

Wary Consumers Spell Trouble for Retailers

71% miss projections, worst showing since September of 2000

(Newser) - With the holiday season looming, retailers' only hope may be a genuine Christmas miracle. In reports on last month's business, 71% of retailers missed sales and profits estimates, making it the worst September since data collection began in 2000, MarketWatch reports. Experts widely attributed the dismal numbers to the struggling...

Wal-Mart Launches $10 Toys, Stores Vow 'This 'R' War'

Rivals match Wal-Mart price cuts as retailers target cash-strapped shoppers

(Newser) - Toy retailers have commenced a fierce price war as a particularly tough holiday season bears down upon them, the Wall Street Journal reports. Wal-Mart cut prices to $10 on key toys including Barbie and Hot Wheels last week, a move quickly mirrored by rivals KB Toys and Target. Toys 'R'...

American Consumers Stop Spending: 'They All Feel Poor'

Unending bad news has sent consumer confidence reeling

(Newser) - Consumers, hit by a tsunami of economic bad news, have dramatically cut back spending in recent weeks, on everything from clothes to cars to airline travel to dining out, reports the New York Times. The slowdown all but guarantees a drop in consumer spending for the third quarter, the first...

Outlets Keep Luxury Stores Afloat

No frills, but great prices, greet customers at outlets, which are a growth sector

(Newser) - In a stagnant economy, luxury retailers are opening off-price outlet stores at a faster clip, drawing in customers with sale prices they’d never see at a flagship, BusinessWeek reports. Including such names as Saks, Nordstrom and Coach, a trend is emerging: While visits and sales at boutique stores are...

99 Cents Only Hikes Prices, But Only by 0.99 Cent

Discount chain follows 2 bum quarters with extra 99% of a penny

(Newser) - The store where nothing costs more than 99¢ has become the store where nothing costs more than 99.99¢, reports the LA Times. The top price at 99 Cents Only will go up by 99/100 of a penny this month, say executives at the discount chain, who blame inflationary pressures....

Plains States See Boom, But Await Bust

Strong farming economy highlights nationwide differences

(Newser) - Driven by rising food prices and farmers’ access to loans, the Plains states are a bright economic spot amid the nationwide slump, the Washington Post reports. Farm country was able to avoid the housing bust because it also avoided the boom. And retail space is filling up as consumer spending...

Hershey Boosts Prices by 10% as Costs Rise

(Newser) - Chocolate maker Hershey said today it is raising prices by about 10% to offset the new costs of ingredients, Reuters reports. Commodities like cocoa and peanuts are up between 20% and 45%, it said, yet one analyst called the price hike a "real surprise." The candy giant also...

Wal-Mart Profits Surge 17%
 Wal-Mart Profits Surge 17%
EARNINGS REPORT
Aug 14, 2008 7:57 AM CDT

Wal-Mart Profits Surge 17%

Retailers ups its outloo for the year after another strong quarter

(Newser) - Wal-Mart's second-quarter profits surged 17%, spurred by bargain-hunting shoppers and tax-rebate checks, reports Bloomberg. The world’s largest retailer also revised its full-year estimates upward, while cautioning that rising energy and food costs make the outlook more volatile from week to week. The company said its net income rose to...

Oil Reversal Stymies Rally
 Oil Reversal Stymies Rally 
MARKETS
Jun 12, 2008 3:45 PM CDT

Oil Reversal Stymies Rally

Market ends up 57 points, down from 185-point rally

(Newser) - A stock rally lost steam after oil reversed an early decline and finished up slightly at $136.74 a barrel, Marketwatch reports. Investors had earlier turned bullish on an unexpectedly strong retail report and crude prices of $131.55. The Dow ended up 57.81 points, at 12,141.58,...

Most Returned Electronics Aren't Broken

Consumers often can't figure out how to use them

(Newser) - Just 5% of the electronics that consumers return to stores actually don’t work, though often the buyers believe they’re broken, a new study says. In 68% of cases, “they thought it was defective when it wasn't, or there was an expectation gap,” an executive of the...

Ditching TV Ads Helps Put Gap Back on Track

Clothing seller sees profit up 40% after cutting marketing costs

(Newser) - The Gap's balance sheet is back in the black, helped along by its decision to stop spending on TV ads, Advertising Age reports. The clothing retailer slashed marketing spending by nearly a fifth in the first quarter and saw profits leap 40%, even as sales slumped. The Gap has switched...

GameStop Axes Zune; Microsoft Shrugs

Video game retailer will no longer sell Microsoft's feeble mp3 player

(Newser) - GameStop, a national chain of video game stores, has announced it will no longer carry Microsoft’s floundering Zune digital media player, TheStreet.com reports. "We have decided to exit the Zune category because it just did not have the appeal we had anticipated," a spokesman said of...

Home, Retail Sales Keep Sliding
 Home, Retail Sales Keep Sliding 
May 13, 2008 11:36 AM CDT

Home, Retail Sales Keep Sliding

Retail decline due mainly to big autos drop; foreclosures depressing housing values

(Newser) - The housing market continued to plunge in the first quarter of 2008, as single-family sales dropped 22% from their year-ago pace, to 4.95 million annually. Bloomberg reports that the median home price is off 7.7% from a year ago, to $196,300, as foreclosed properties drag down values....

Markets See Gains From Retail
 Markets See Gains From Retail 
MARKETS
May 8, 2008 3:23 PM CDT

Markets See Gains From Retail

But oil trades at $123.69, limiting rally

(Newser) - The markets achieved solid gains today as better-than-expected sales from big-box discount retailers encouraged investors worried over oil prices still in record territory, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow gained 52.43 to close at 12,866.78, while the Nasdaq rose 12.75 to 2,451.24. The...

Haggling Makes a Comeback
 Haggling Makes a Comeback 
Apr 15, 2008 7:05 AM CDT

Haggling Makes a Comeback

Consumers cutting deals as economy slows

(Newser) - Many shoppers might consider haggling a buying technique better suited to a Moroccan carpet bazaar than their local mall, but the practice is picking up steam in the US in the midst of increasing economic woes, reports the Los Angeles Times. Cash-strapped consumers are trying to create bargains rather than...

Stocks Seesaw, Close Down
 Stocks Seesaw, Close Down 
MARKETS
Apr 14, 2008 3:34 PM CDT

Stocks Seesaw, Close Down

Investors hold their breath for coming Q1 earnings reports

(Newser) - Stocks wobbled today, eventually posting modest losses as investors still processing GE’s poor results absorbed Wachovia's unexpected losses and steeled themselves for more disappointment from first-quarter earnings reports. The Dow ended the day down 23.36 at 12,302.06, the Nasdaq dropped 14.42 to 2,275.82,...

Gas Fuels US Retail Sales, Up 0.2% in March

Inflation may also be factor as spending remains flat otherwise

(Newser) - US retail purchases rose in March by 0.2%, pushed up by higher prices at the gasoline pump, Bloomberg reports. Purchases excluding gasoline were unchanged, and consumer spending is still on its way down, causing investors to think that the Federal Reserve might again look to cut interest rates—despite...

Linens 'n Things to Go Bust
Linens 'n
Things to
Go Bust
Apr 11, 2008 6:50 AM CDT

Linens 'n Things to Go Bust

Home-furnishings giant may be first retail victim of market crisis

(Newser) - Linens ‘n Things ls expected to file for Chapter 11 by Tuesday, the deadline for a $15-million quarterly debt payment, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move would make the home-furnishings giant the first major retailer sunk by the housing crisis, after bloated debt and plummeting demand handed the...

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