Retailers Report Sales Declines for August
from The Associated Press via Google News
 Retailers posted sales declines for August as shoppers held back on back-to-school purchases and continued to focus on necessities, but overall results came in ahead of analyst predictions. A monthly compilation of 31 retailers' results by The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs showed sales in established stores fell 2.1 percent in August compared with the same month in 2008. That was better than the 3.5 percent to 4 percent drop expected.
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Costco August Same-store Sales Top Wall Street
from The Associated Press via Forbes
Warehouse club operator Costco Wholesale Corp. said that its same-store sales slipped 2 percent in August, but beat Wall Street's expectations. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters predicted a larger same-store sales decline of 5.7 percent.
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Best Buy to Add 22 Stores in 3Q
from The Business Journal of Milwaukee
Best Buy Co. Inc. plans to open 22 new stores during the fiscal third quarter of 2010, including a location in Oshkosh, the company announced. The Richfield, Minn.-based consumer electronics retailer’s new stores will include a location at Union Station in New York City and one in Puerto Rico. The Oshkosh, Wis., store is the only Upper Midwest opening planned.
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The True Cost of Hurricanes – Exclusive Web Event Invitation
Tuesday, September 15, 2009 2:00 PM Eastern
USM, the North American leader in facilities maintenance and management, and Planalytics, the singular global source of Business Weather Intelligence® invite you to attend this special webcas focused on industry best practices for science-based budgeting and operations planning. We will discuss and demonstrate how the combination of cutting edge technology, Business Weather Intelligence, and a comprehensive hurricane management plan can lead to improved budget predictability, lower costs, and an improved customer experience.
Click here for complimentary access to this event.
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Walgreens Sees Surge in August Sales
from Retailing Today
The nation's largest drugstore chain reported a 6.8 percent spike in its monthly sales. Walgreens had August sales of $5.228 billion, an increase of 6.8 percent from $4.89 billion for the same month in 2008. Sales in comparable stores (those open at least a year) increased 1.9percent. Meanwhile, comparable store front-end sales decreased 1.3 percent. Front-end sales continue to be hurt by slow sales of discretionary items in a challenging economy.
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Michaels Partners with Site Controls to Reduce Energy Costs and Carbon Emissions
from Retail Solutions Online
Site Controls, the leading provider of enterprise energy management, facilities intelligence, and grid efficiency solutions, announced recently that Michaels Stores has successfully deployed its Site-Command Energy Management System (EMS) at more than 900 retail locations. To date, Michaels has seen energy usage drop by more than 25 percent at stores equipped with Site-Command. The solution helps chain retailers reduce energy and maintenance costs through equipment monitoring and control combined with web-based business intelligence.
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Casual Male Retail Group, Inc. Announces Sale of Equity Securities
from Reuters
Casual Male Retail Group, Inc. announced that it has agreed to sell 4,950,000 shares of common stock to certain institutional investors. Casual Male has entered into definitive agreements to sell the shares of its common stock through a registered direct offering at a price of $2.75 per share for gross proceeds of approximately $13.6 million.
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Payless Shoe to Expand Into Russia
from The Wall Street Journal
Collective Brands Inc. is expected to announce that it is expanding its Payless ShoeSource retail chain into Russia with franchise partner M.H. Alshaya. The Topeka, Kan., footwear company, known for its affordable line of shoes by top fashion designers, plans to open stores beginning in 2010 in Russia. The agreement calls for between 95 and 150 stores to be built within five years. Alshaya will own and operate the stores, but Collective Brands has the option to buy into them.
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Retailers Begin to Show Some Signs of Life, But New Leasing Deals Continue to Pose Challenges
from Retail Traffic Magazine
As the U.S. economy has begun to show minor signs of improvement, so has the outlook for retail leasing. A number of tenants in the discount, warehouse club and quick-service restaurant sectors are beginning to look at expansion. The fact that there are retailers out there willing to sign new leases should give hope to real estate owners, who have spent most of the past year trying to keep their tenant rosters from falling apart. But getting retailers to commit to a new lease is not easy or cheap.
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JCPenney Launches iPhone App
from Home Textiles Today
JCPenney has launched a new app for Apple’s iPhone that will give mobile phone users access to weekly deals at the retailer. The free JCPenney Weekly Deals app allows cusomters to browse a select group of store-advertised sale items featured in the latest weekend sales circular; create a "portable" shopping list within the application by saving items as “favorites”; search for the latest special offers; and find the nearest store to either their current location or to a zip code/city name.
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Samsonite Enters Bankruptcy Shelter from Creditors
from Bloomberg
Samsonite Co. Stores, the U.S. retail division of luggage-maker Samsonite Corp., sought bankruptcy protection from creditors, citing a decline in demand for travel gear. The company, based in Mansfield, Massachusetts, today listed $233 million in assets and $1.5 billion in debts as of July 31 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.
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Philips innovative EnduraLED™ solid state lighting retrofit solutions
 make it possible to reduce energy consumption and maintenance costs, without compromising light quality and ambience –with a simple twist. It’s an attractive payback for accent applications. More
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10,000 Retail Stores to Shutter by End of Year
from Gourmet Retailer
There will be as many as 10,000 retail store closures by the end of 2009, according to corporate consultancy Grant Thornton LLP. Its "Reviving Retail: Strategies for Growth in 2009" report highlights the fact that the success of online retailers combined with consumers' adoption of private label has greatly impacted businesses.
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