Same Store Sales

It is very nearly the perfect storm: just as shrinking paychecks are making consumers more wary about spending their disposable income, so restaurant chains must grapple with a post-drought surge in the price of key ingredients. The result is likely to be a drop in the rate of same-store sales growth for the fourth quarter [...]

Across the board, retailers posted significantly better-than-expected advances in same-store sales in January, with the cold weather helping the index record its biggest advance since September 2011. Retail sales posted a better-than-expected gain during January, as the Thomson Reuters Same Store Sales Index registered a 5.8% jump over year-earlier levels. Although including the results from [...]

Shoppers found bargains in discounted cold-weather merchandise in January, and analysts expect to see a 3.1% gain in the Thomson Reuters Same Store Sales Index for January 2013. Cold weather sent some shoppers to the mall in search of warm weather apparel during January, while others were tempted into stores in search of other sale-priced [...]

Retailers struggled to persuade bargain-hunting shoppers to open their wallets and spend heavily over the holiday season, and for some already facing headwinds, that will translate into lower SSS for the fourth quarter and possibly lower margins and profits. The end of the fourth quarter for retailers is now less than two weeks away, and [...]

Bargain-hunting and self-discipline on the part of shoppers throughout the holiday season may limit the growth in same-store sales for December to only 1.7% (or 3.3%, excluding drug stores), according to forecasts for the Thomson Reuters Same Store Sales Index. Shoppers planned to be cautious and keep their spending within limits during the just-completed holiday [...]

The annual ritual known as holiday shopping still has ten days – and two crucial weekends – left before Christmas, the biggest gift-giving day of the year, arrives, and with 28% of Reuters/Ipsos poll respondents confessing that they haven’t yet begun their holiday shopping, retailers could see a healthy gain in same-store sales this month. [...]

Big bargains tempted cautious consumers to spend during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, as shopping on Turkey Day displaced Black Friday, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Retailers invested a tremendous amount of marketing effort and energy in opening their doors earlier than ever before on Black Friday (and increasingly on Thanksgiving Day itself), and in making [...]

Retailers are blaming superstorm Sandy for the disappointing increase in SSS for the month of November, but say they remain upbeat about the outlook for the holiday shopping season. A strong performance by retailers on Black Friday wasn’t enough to offset the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Sandy on retail sales during the month of September [...]

Retailers threw themselves into the holiday shopping season with even more energy than usual, opening earlier and offering a steady stream of big deals. Still, analysts aren’t expecting SSS gains to measure up to those recorded in November of last year. Despite the push by retailers like Wal-Mart Stores (WMT.N) and Target (TGT.N) to open [...]

Retailers are offering holiday deals earlier than last year. They are ramping up hiring for the biggest shopping season, offering layaway earlier this year, prepping up their online presence, and fighting online competitors with price matching strategies. On top of that, consumer houses are going up in value, making them feel more secure about their [...]