8:21am ET
Investing
Gap Sales Hammered Again
In the midst of a restucturing that will cause it to close 20% of its US flagship stores, and which has cost the head of its Old Navy division his job, Gap…
Douglas A. McIntyre
Companies
Gap Inc
GPS Coverage
Page 27 Douglas A. McIntyre 6:46am ET
Retail
Who Is at Fault at Avon?
Avon’s (NYSE: AVP) vice chairman, Charles Cramb, was fired as the federal government examines whether the company violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He may have known about bribes Avon made outside the…
12:24pm ET
Companies and Brands
Retail Sales Roundup (COST, TGT, JCP, KSS, DDS, JWN, SKS, SSI, M, GPS, TJX, LTD, ROST, SMRT, WTSLA, BKE, ZUMZ, WAG)
US retailers are reporting December same-store sales today, and here’s a wrap-up of the results as of about 10 a.m. this morning. Reports were in from Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST), Target…
6:30am ET
Special Report
The Best and Worst Online Stores This Holiday
Customer service surveys cannot entirely distinguish between true, direct customer service on the one hand and brand perception and reputation of the company providing the service on the other. A look at…
6:24am ET
Media
Media Digest (12/28/2011) Reuters, WSJ, FT, Bloomberg
Obama nominates Jeremy Stein and Jerome Powell to take seats at the Federal Reserve. (Reuters) New York Times (NYSE: NYT) sells its regional media group for $143 million. (Reuters) The U.S. Treasury…
5:25am ET
Investing
For Those With Retail Trouble, the Problems Worsen Online
Research firm ForeSee released its customer satisfaction ratings for the shopping season — its Holiday E-retail Satisfaction Index. The e-commerce ratings mirror, in most cases, the states of the parent companies’ revenue. Amazon.com…
10:53am ET
Retail
Sears Will Not Close Enough Stores
The numbers do not add up. Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) has over 4,000 full-line and specialty stores. Same-store sales for the eight weeks that ended December 25 were down 5.2%. That figure…
6:00am ET
Retail
Retail Stocks Investors Abandoned May Be Crippled for Good
Investors walked away from several retail stocks late this year. Those companies probably will continue to falter in 2012 and 2013. Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), Gap (NYSE: GPS) and Sears Holdings (NASDAQ:…
6:26am ET
Investing
Best and Worst Run Companies in America
Many American companies have done incredibly well this year. A number posted extraordinary financial results in 2011. Others have launched products that revolutionized markets. Of course, many big public corporations also did…
6:24am ET
Retail
A Slew of Layoffs
Layoffs were part of the business news yesterday. Enough people lost jobs in a series of three “downsizings” to reminds those who believe unemployment continues to fall that the economy still struggles.…
6:41am ET
Investing
What’s Important in the Financial World (12/2/2011) Chrysler Victory, Google Chrome Surge
The sovereign debt problem in Europe gets more complex by the hour. The European Central Bank said it may intervene to buy paper issued by nations that are economically weak. This should…
6:23am ET
Retail
Google E-commerce Plan May Further Damage Traditional Retailers
Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) will start an e-commerce business to compete with Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN). Amazon is the devil to struggling bricks-and-mortar companies that want more online sales. But Google eventually may be…
2:52pm ET
Investing
Balance Sheet & Buybacks: When Retailers Get Too Aggressive (LOW, SWY, GPS, KR)
The world of public companies in retail may need to reconsider some actions. Fitch is warning that retailers are in many cases getting too aggressive and are leveraging the books too much. …
10:17am ET
Companies and Brands
November Same-Store Sales Mixed, Winners and Losers (LTD, TLB, COST, TGT, M, DDS, JWN, KSS, GPS, ROST, JCP, TJX, LULU, SSI, PIR)
Retailers are reporting November sales this morning and the results are decidely mixed. The best report we’ve seen so far this morning is from Limited Brands, Inc. (NYSE: LTD) and the worst…
5:18am ET
Media
Media Digest (11/25/2011) Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomerg
Research firm GfK reports that brand loyalty to Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is much higher than to other wireless products (Reuters) AT&T (NYSE: T) began to ready itself for the probable end of its…