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November Retail Sales a Bit Blue Despite Black Friday

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:53:29 EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Despite ever-expanding sales and store hours, Black Friday hordes barely moved up November retail sales.

Monthly retail sales figures for November rose only 0.2%, the smallest gain in the holiday shopping month since 2008, but were up 6.7% from November 2010, according to data released Tuesday by the Department of Commerce. Economists expected a 0.6% increase, according to Thomson One Analytics.

The market largely shrugged off the disappointing data, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.8%, or 90.86 points, to 12,112.25 at 10:30 a.m. The S&P 500 gained 0.7% to 1,245.23, and the Nasdaq rose 16.73 points to 2,629.27. ...

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Did Black Friday Save Best Buy's Earnings?

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 09:19:00 EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Best Buy may have been one of the biggest winners on Black Friday, but the shopping frenzy on Thanksgiving weekend probably didn't fix the company's core issues.

"All Best Buy can be credited with is planning the day well," said Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates, a retail consulting and investment banking firm. "In 2010, Best Buy didn't promote aggressively and lost market share to rivals like Wal-Mart, Target and Amazon. This year they did. It doesn't change the fact that they have major margin issues and problems."

Best Buy has been trying to shake its image as Amazon's showroom -- a place where shoppers go to test and play with merchandise and then go online to actually make the purchase. This year, Best Buy took more of a price-leadership role over the Black Friday weekend, especially on the television front, with some deals even better than Amazon's, Credit Suisse analyst Gary Balter noted following the shopping weekend. ...

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'Tis the Season for eBay

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:35:42 EST

The following commentary comes from an independent investor or market observer as part of TheStreet's guest contributor program, which is separate from the company's news coverage.

NEW YORK (Trefis) -- By now you've probably heard that the Holiday buying season started off with a bang on Black Friday, and was followed with more positive news from consumers on Cyber Monday. Not surprisingly eBay, Amazon and other online retailers saw a huge jump, too. What may surprise some investors was the fantastic November eBay announced. An 18% jump in year-over-year sales for the month, along with a solid start to the holidays has investors cheering. Especially considering this comes on the heels of a 13.4% year-over-year jump in October.

...

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10 Retail Stock Losers of 2011: Which Will Recover in 2012?

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 10:50:20 EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) - Retail stocks have been unimpressive in 2011. While the overall space didn't get any worse than the year prior, there weren't remarkable improvements either.

The S&P Retail Index has increased 4.4% so far in 2011 to 536.34. Out of 83 top retail stocks, 37 saw their share price decline, with 31 of those declining by more than 10%.

The office supply space saw some of the biggest selling pressure in 2011, with all three of the major players in the space coming in at the top of the biggest decliners list. This doesn't come as a surprise as the office supply sector continues to be hurt by weak consumer spending and business trends. ...

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Macy's Reviews Martha Stewart Partnership Following J.C. Penney Deal

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:22:42 EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Macy's is taking a hard look at the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia products it sells following a deal between the media company and rival J.C. Penney.

"In light of the proliferation of Martha Stewart-branded product in the marketplace, Macy's is reviewing the Martha Stewart products sold at Macy's for potential changes in the future," says Macy's spokesperson Jim Sluzewski. "No decisions have been made at this time. Martha Stewart products in categories such as cookware, kitchen utensils, bed and bath will continue to be sold exclusively at Macy's until further notice. Martha Stewart is among a wide range of leading brands offered in Macy's home store and we will continue to expand and improve our home offering based on localized customer preferences across the country."

J.C. Penney and Martha Stewart Living announced a partnership this morning to create in-store Martha Stewart shops and e-commerce site in 2013. ...

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J.C. Penney Bets on Martha Stewart

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:39:51 EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- J.C. Penney announced it is partnering with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia to create in-store shops.

The department store took a 16.6% stake in the media company, investing $38.5 million, or $3.50 a share. As part of the 10-year deal, J.C. Penney also will have representation on Martha Stewart's board. Martha Stewart Living said it will pay out a one-time special dividend to its shareholders of 25 cents a share.

In February 2013, J.C. Penney will roll out Martha Stewart retail stores inside most of the company's locations. J.C. Penney will market and source the products. ...

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Talbots Jumps on News of $3 Per Share Buyout Bid

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:10:45 EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Talbots soared in extended action late Tuesday on news that buyout firm Sycamore Partners has offered to acquire the struggling retailer for nearly double the stock's closing price.

In a regulatory filing after the closing bell, Sycamore Partners said it has sent a letter to Talbots Chairman Gary Pfeiffer that offers to purchase all of the company's outstanding stock for $3 per share in cash.

Talbots' shares finished Tuesday's regular session at $1.56, so the bid represents a premium of 92%. The stock hasn't closed above $3 since late September. ...

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Why Don't Women Shop More Like Men?

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:28:07 EST

By Christina Cheddar Berk, News Editor at CNBC.com NEW YORK (CNBC) -- Not surprisingly, the way men and women shop online mirrors very closely how they shop offline, according to Andrew Robertson, CEO at advertising agency BBDO.

Men tend to be very task-focused when they shop online, Robertson said. "They don't shop, they hunt," he said, adding that they tend to make purchases at night.

Women, however, tend to think of shopping as "a journey" and they are more likely to buy during their lunch breaks between noon and 1 p.m., he said. ...

How Amazon Plans to Steal Retail Shoppers

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 12:49:16 EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Amazon is paying consumers not to shop at brick-and-mortars.

The e-commerce giant will offer a promotion starting Saturday that awards shoppers $5 off a purchase when they use the company's price-comparison app in stores.

Amazon's Price Check app allows shoppers to scan a bar code, take a picture of an item or search the app to find the lowest prices. ...

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U.S. Has More Dollar Stores Than Drugstores

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:54:32 EST

NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- Dollar stores are taking over the nation.

According to a report from real estate services company Colliers International, the four big national chains -- Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar and 99 Cents Only Stores -- operate approximately 21,500 locations in the U.S. Dollar stores are taking over the U.S., now operating more units than the major drugstores.

That combined total surpasses that of the nation's three biggest drugstore chains: Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid, which collectively operate 19,700 locations. ...

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Dollar General Shares Rise on Boosted Guidance

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:11:22 EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Dollar General were rising Monday as the retail store beat Wall Street's sales and income estimates due to increased customer traffic and a bump in the average transaction amount. The company also raised its full-year guidance.

Shares of the Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based company were at $40.81, up 48 cents, or 2.2%, in trading Monday morning.

Dollar General reported a profit of $171.2 million, or 50 cents a share, on revenue of about $3.6 billion. Analysts as polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 47 cents a share on revenue of $3.57 billion. ...

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5 Ways Google Is Changing the Way You Shop

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:32:22 EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Google is already an Internet behemoth, but it now has set its sights on the retail space.

Over the last few months the company has rolled out several new products that have directly (or indirectly) targeted the consumer in an attempt to win back lost ad revenue from Amazon's marketplace and Prime shipping service.

Ultimately, these moves have raised questions as to whether Google's real goal is to create a full-out marketplace. While there are differing opinions as to Google's potential success in this space, it's clear the company is looking to snag a slice of the retail market. ...

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Loooong Hold Times for Some Online Sellers

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:02:18 EST

NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- Given the long lines that shoppers must deal with in stores on Thanksgiving weekend, many may prefer to browse for sales online instead, but shopping online can come with long wait times as well.

It took the 25 largest e-commerce Web sites an average of nearly four minutes to respond to customer service questions by phone between Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year, and more than a quarter of the retailers forced customers to wait at least five minutes to speak with someone, according to data from StellaService, a customer service ratings company. If you're looking for a hassle-free shopping experience, make the most of your purchases through Amazon and Overstock.

SonyStyle.com had by far the longest hold time of roughly 11.5 minutes, while other popular retailers such as JCPenney.com and Newegg.com each clocked in at about seven minutes. Several of these same sites also ranked near the bottom of the list in email response time. Newegg.com, for example, had responded to only a quarter of all customer service emails within 24 hours while the J.C. Penney Web site didn't respond to any emails in that period. ...

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Barnes & Noble Can't Act Like Amazon

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:47:00 EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Barnes & Noble is pulling an Amazon , willing to take a hit on profit in a quest for growth. But it may not work out as well for the bookseller as it has for the e-commerce giant.

Barnes & Noble reported a surprise second-quarter loss of $6.6 million, or 17 cents a share, as sales slipped 0.6% from a year earlier to $1.89 billion.

The company intends to become a digital behemoth, saying it plans to increase its investment in customer acquisition activities to further digital growth for the Nook business. As a result, it expects full-year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to come in at the low end of its prior forecast of $210 million to $250 million. ...

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Cyber Monday 2011 Sets Shopping Record

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 11:16:41 EST

NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- The retail sector has been toasting its victory these past few days after Black Friday spending rose by 7% from last year. But that better-than-expected increase doesn't even come close to matching the bump that online retailers saw on Cyber Monday.

ComScore, which tracks Internet data, announced late Tuesday that total sales on Cyber Monday -- online retail's answer to Black Friday -- rose a whopping 22% from last year. According to the company, online sales totaled $1.3 billion on Monday, up from slightly more than $1 billion on Cyber Monday 2010, to mark the biggest day for online shopping in U.S. history. Online shoppers spent more than a billion dollars on the designated e-commerce day.

To be fair, that total can't touch the approximately $11.4 billion shoppers spent on Black Friday, suggesting that bricks-and-mortar doorbusters still rule on the traditional kick-off to the holiday spending season. Included in that number, it should be noted, is $816 million shoppers spent on online sales on Black Friday, according to ComScore, with an additional $479 million spent online on Thanksgiving Day itself. ...