The 2011 holiday season is very likely going to be a tale of two classes. For the well-off — those with discretionary incomes above $250,000 — spending is expected to increaseby about 7%. For…
The US Senate has passed legislation that could make it easier for the Treasury Department to hit China with sanctions as a currency manipulator. China’s response, so far, has been to tell the US…
The retail sales growth outlook for the coming holiday season has been cut to around 3%, only half the growth retailers saw in the 2010 holiday season. Of course, last year followed the dismal…
Gap (NYSE: GPS) took the coward’s way out. Buried among announcements about its global sales plans, it reported that “the company is committed to rebalancing its specialty and outlet stores within North America, resulting…
Each year, hundreds of thousands of temporary workers are hired by retailers to handle the demands of the holiday season. The number of seasonal workers added is considered a bellwether for the economy. This…
Carrefour is the largest retailer in Europe and the second largest in the world. Like Walmart (NYSE: WMT), it has struggled to make sales in it core market. Carrefour just dropped its financial forecasts…
JCPenney (NYSE: JCP) bought the Liz Claiborne brand from Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ), along with other, smaller brand assets. The deal did not excite anyone on Wall St. JCPenney traded flat at just above…
There is a school of thought that says the restaurant business is always a good business – people need to eat. A glance at the sales of many of America’s largest restaurant chains over…
British high-end clothier Burberry PLC reported that sales for its first six months of the year rose 30% on strong demand for its signature trenchcoats and accessories. The company noted that its revenue growth…
Retail sales for the coming holiday season are expected to be about 3% higher than 2010 sales. Not bad, considering that US GDP growth predictions are now below 2%; not good, either, considering that…
The rich are apparently not proving to be immune to the economic slowing we have seen in the past few months. That insatiable appetite for more luxury goods appears to be slowing. The price…
After the markets close today, Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) will report its third-quarter earnings. Analysts are expecting EPS of $0.83 on revenue of $3.1 billion, compared with second-quarter EPS of $0.63 on revenue of…
Many investors of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) may be worried that today marked the official launch notice of the new Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire from Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN). It is more likely that…
Everything about Australia’s Foster’s Lager seems big — starting with the brew’s over-sized can. Today the beer’s maker, Foster’s Group Ltd., agreed to be acquired by the world’s second largest brewer, SABMiller PLC (OTC:…
There has been a fair amount of media coverage of the forecast for holiday sales released by the International Council of Shipping Centers. The numbers are worse than they seem at first. The forecast…