North America – Page 16

  • News

    Toys R Us plans renewed float

    2010-06-03T16:12:00Z

    Toys giant Toys R Us is set to become a public company again with plans to float for $800m (£548.6m).The retailer, which has 1,363 stores in 34 countries, including 75 in Britain, said it hopes to use some of the money raised to pay off a portion of its debt. ...

  • News

    Abercrombie & Fitch Q1 sales up 14%

    2010-05-26T17:11:00Z

    Abercrombie & Fitch has reported first-quarter net sales up 14% to $687.8m (£457m). Total like-for-like sales increased 1%, while net loss for the quarter narrowed to $11.8m (£8m) from $59.2m (£38m) in the same period last year.During the remainder of the financial year, the retailer expects to open Abercrombie & ...

  • News

    Foot Locker Q1 sales up 5.3%

    2010-05-26T17:03:00Z

    Foot Locker’s first-quarter sales increased 5.3% to $1.28bn (£900m) compared with the same period last year.Like-for-like sales increased 4.8%. Total sales for the first quarter increased 3%, excluding the effect of foreign currency fluctuations. Net income was $54m (£36m), compared with $31m (£20m) last year.

  • News

    Sears Q1 revenue flat

    2010-05-26T17:03:00Z

    Sears Holdings’ total revenue for the first quarter of 2010 has hit $10bn (£6.6bn), flat against 2009.Favourable exchange rate benefits from the Canadian stores and a 1.5% increase in domestic like-for-like sales, were offset by the effect of having 63 fewer Kmart and Sears stores in operation.The domestic like-for-like sales ...

  • News

    Gap posts £2.2bn Q1 sales

    2010-05-26T16:47:00Z

    Gap has posted net sales of $3.33bn (£2.2bn) in its first quarter, a rise of 6% on the same period last year. Like-for-like sales increased 4% and net income rocketed 40% to $302m (£200m).Chairman and chief executive Glenn Murphy said: “Fuelled by our strengthened economic model, we are in a ...

  • News

    A&P posts Q4 loss of £113m

    2010-05-13T12:24:00Z

    Tengelmann-controlled A&P has announced its fourth-quarter and full-year results for the 12 and 52 weeks ended February 27, 2010.Fourth-quarter net loss was $171.4m (£113.85m), up 53% compared with the net loss of $112.1m (£74.46m) a year earlier. Overall sales fell 12.9% to $2bn (£1.33bn), while like-for-like sales were down 4.8%. ...

  • News

    Ronato focus on growing market share

    2010-05-07T00:00:00Z

    During 2010 and 2011, home improvement retailer Rona plans to focus primarily on growing its market share in Ontario and Western Canada while reinforcing its strong position in Quebec.The retailer expects to grow its share of the Canadian home improvement market from 17% to 20% by the end of 2011.By ...

  • News

    Shoppers Drug Mart sales up 5.7%

    2010-05-05T11:11:00Z

    Drugstore chain Shoppers Drug Mart’s sales jumped 5.7% to C$2.32bn (£1.5bn) in the first quarter of 2010. The company continues to enjoy sales growth in all regions of the country, led by gains in Quebec and Western Canada. Like-for-like sales increased 3.1% over the quarter.Net earnings increased 8.2% to C$116m ...

  • News

    Office Depot sales fall 4.7%

    2010-05-05T11:09:00Z

    Office Depot saw sales fall 4.7% to $3.1bn (£1.9bn) during the three months to March 27, 2010. Operating profit came in at $56m (£36m), compared with a loss of $60m (£39m) in the first quarter of 2009.Net profit was $29m (£19m), an improvement on the $55m (£36m) loss in the ...

  • News

    JC Penney aims for £14.2bn sales by 2014

    2010-04-28T13:46:00Z

    JC Penney has set new, five-year operational and financial targets to reflect a focus on driving profitable, top-line growth and expanding market share.By the end of its 2014 financial year, the retailer is aiming to increase total sales by more than $5bn (£3.1bn) to reach about $23bn (£14.2 bn).In the ...

  • News

    Neiman Marcus testing new discount format

    2010-04-28T13:35:00Z

    Department store operator Neiman Marcus is testing a new discount concept, according to US consumer fashion website Women’s Wear Daily.The 11,000 sq ft store, which opened this month in Dallas, offers designer brands such as Michael Kors, Badgley Mischka and Diane von Furstenberg, with prices ranging between $45 and $300 ...

  • News

    Saks to close 53 stores

    2010-04-20T16:06:00Z

    Premium department store chain Saks plans to close up to 20 of its 53 full-line Saks Fifth Avenue stores over time.The exact number of store closures and their timing has not yet been announced, although the company closed its Portland, Oregon store last month. Instead, Saks is pursuing growth through ...

  • News

    Borders sets aside space for e-reader category

    2010-04-15T17:03:00Z

    Borders is setting up “Area-e” sections inside all its stores that will be dedicated to the growing e-book and e-reader category.The book retailer will offer a wide variety of e-readers for sale as well as a comprehensive array of accessories and extended warranty programmes. Borders expects to complete the roll-out ...

  • News

    Fresh & Easy launches EatWell range

    2010-04-15T17:02:00Z

    Tesco’s Fresh & Easy Neigborhood Market has launched EatWell, a line of 17 new healthy, ready-to-eat prepared meals and sides.The range includes salads, soups, noodle dishes, main courses and other options, with most options selling for $3.99 (£2.46).The EatWell range has been designed to contain fewer than 500 calories in ...

  • News

    Grocery accounts for majority of Walmart US sales

    2010-04-09T00:00:00Z

    Walmart revealed that its US division generated a majority of its sales from grocery categories for the first time in its history last year.Grocery sales - including meat, produce, deli, bakery, dairy, frozen foods, floral and dry groceries, as well as consumables such as health and beauty aids, household chemicals, ...

  • News

    Barnes & Nobel e-commerce boss becomes chief executive

    2010-03-23T17:36:00Z

    Barnes & Noble has promoted William Lynch, who currently heads Barnesandnoble.com, to the position of chief executive, replacing Steve Riggio.The bookseller said that Riggio will be actively involved with the company and will stay on as vice-chairman.Lynch has been president of Barnes & Noble’s website since February last year and ...

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    Analysis

    US department stores see benefits of discount shops

    2010-03-05T00:00:00Z

    The recession has breathed new life into US off-price clothing chains as consumers look for thrifty ways to shop without compromising on style.

  • News

    US multiples’ like-for-likes up 3.3%

    2010-02-12T00:00:00Z

    Retail Metrics reported that its index of multiple retailers’ same-store sales figures rose 3.3% - higher than the 2.4% forecast and the fifth successive month of positive year-on-year sales growth shown by the index.During January high street retailers and department stores reported an increase in sales.Macy’s same-store sales climbed 3.4% ...

  • News

    Movie Gallery to close 805 stores

    2010-02-12T00:00:00Z

    Film rental chain Movie Gallery plans to close 805 poorly performing US stores after falling sales and mounting losses led to its second bankruptcy in three years.The closures affect a third of the retailer’s 2,415 US stores and several thousand of the company’s 19,100 employees are likely to lose their ...

  • News

    Dollar General to open 600 stores this year

    2010-02-12T00:00:00Z

    Fixed-price retailer Dollar General is gunning to open a further 600 stores over the next 12 months, creating about 5,000 jobs. The 5,000 anticipated new jobs come on the heels of about 4,000 jobs created by Dollar General in 2009, according to the retailer.Meanwhile, Dollar Tree reported record net sales ...