ETD: 969 Wal-Mart pledges to help small retailers; Broadband;
Tepid sales for retailers in March
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Thu Apr 6 12:54:16 GMT 2006
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0969 April 6, 2006
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem at gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
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CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] Wal-Mart pledges to help small retailers
[3] Broadband
[4] Tepid sales for retailers in March
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
Gifts & Dec Direct reports breaking news about
Wal-Mart helping retailers when Wal-Mart comes
into an area. I find it interesting how
retailers panic when the big box stores come into
an area. Rather they should find other ways to
capitalize on this. You can't change it, may as
well find ways to grow with them. One of our
list members (Todd Mogren) does just that with
their hardware store which has Home Depot right
across the street. I have a client who opens
stores wherever they can when a new Wal-Mart
opens. Their business is thriving.
We have another report on the Broadband issues
from the West Coast, which will be the last in
the U.S. How about outside the U.S. What do you
experience with speeds and costs? You can check
yours here...
http://bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/ or as list
member Brad Waller indicates... http://www.dslreports.com/stest
Retails sales in March were a bit tepid as
reported by the WSJ, mainly because of Easter
being three weeks later this year than last. How did you do?
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
George Matyjewicz, PhD
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, LLC
mailto:georgem at gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] Wal-Mart pledges to help small retailers
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In a move bound to surprise many of the retailing
giant's detractors, Wal-Mart today announced the
launch of a program to help small business
succeed when one of its big box stores opens up nearby.
Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott announced the new,
nationwide "Wal-Mart Jobs and Opportunity Zones"
initiative in a speech at the Newspaper
Association of America's annual convention this afternoon.
The program is designed to "create more
opportunities for small businesses to capitalize
on the benefits of having a Wal-Mart store in
their community," the company said in a statement
released concurrent with Scott's speech.
The key elements of the initiative's "Opportunity Zone" element include:
o Working with Wal-Mart store managers to
identify up to five local businesses per quarter
to be singled out as "Small Business Spotlights";
o Featuring these small businesses in local
newspaper advertising and offering to product
free radio ads for them, which will then be
broadcast on Wal-Mart's in-store radio network;
o Establishing a "Wal-Mart Business Development
Team" to hold seminars for small businesses on
best practices and how to thrive with Wal-Mart in their communities;
o Producing an annual "Wal-Mart Trends Report"
that it will share exclusively with the small business community.
Additionally, the program will place an emphasis
on supporting minority and female-owned
businesses through several efforts, including
"Working with Wal-Mart" sessions designed to help
local, minority and female-owned businesses learn
how to do business with Wal-Mart.
Chicago's West Side is the program's first
"opportunity zone." Nine additional markets will
be announced in the coming months, according to the company.
As to the program's jobs component, Wal-Mart says
it will build more than 50 stores in the next two
years in "neighborhoods with high crime or
unemployment rates, on sites that are
environmentally contaminated, in vacant buildings
or in malls in need of revitalization." The
project is expected to create between 15,000 and
25,000 jobs, many of which will be in minority
communities, according to the company. The stores
are expected to generate more than $100 million
in state and local tax revenue for those communities.
"Wal-Mart has never been afraid to invest in
communities that are overlooked by other
retailers
Where those businesses see
difficulty, we see opportunity," said Scott, of
the program. "This is a commitment to reach
beyond our stores, to further engage the
community, and to offer and even greater economic
boost to people and neighborhoods that need Wal-Mart the most."
The Staff of
Gifts & Dec Direct
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[3] Broadband
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I tested from both home and the office:
Home (Adelphia Cable Modem, ~$50/mo):
Communications 3.9 megabits per second
Storage 474.5 kilobytes per second
1MB file download 2.2 seconds
Subjective rating Awesome
Office (Fractional T1/DSL, ~$60/mo):
Communications 682.1 kilobits per second
Storage 83.3 kilobytes per second
1MB file download 12.3 seconds
Subjective rating Not bad
You can also use tests from DSLReports: http://www.dslreports.com/stest
Brad Waller | VP, Business and Affiliate Development
http://EPage.com/ | http://AdConnect.com | http://AdJungle.com
+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
If I read that right, your cable is faster than
the T1 line. May want to consider cable in the office.
That gives us a sampling in the three areas of the U.S., and Bermuda.
George
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[4] Tepid sales for retailers in March
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Retailers posted mostly tepid sales for March,
hurt by the timing of Easter and wintry
temperatures that chilled spring shopping.
A calendar shift this year will push back Easter
to April 16, three weeks later than a year ago.
As a result, retailers expected to lose some of
the holiday sales that they typically see in
March -- especially at teen retailers, as spring
breaks at high schools tend to track the timing of Easter.
Persistently cold and wet weather, especially in
the West, also damped demand for spring fashions
and lawn-and-garden products. Stiff gasoline
prices and a slowing housing market may also be damping consumer spirits.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest
retailer, said its same-store sales rose just
1.4% during March. Comparable sales at the
company's flagship Wal-Mart stores rose a narrow
0.8%, but sales at the Sam's Club warehouse unit
rose 4.5% excluding gasoline sales.
Other discounters' results echoed Wal-Mart.
Target Corp.'s same-store sales rose 2.2%, and
like Wal-Mart, Target said it expects the late
Easter to provide a boost to April sales. Costco
Wholesale Corp., Sam's Club's primary competitor,
said same-store sales rose 7%. Costco said it
plans to increase annual membership fees by $5
for certain members starting May 1. The retailer
noted that this is its first fee increase in nearly six years.
Spring fashion trends haven't been entirely
favorable for sales. Teens have latched onto
camouflage looks, but a mandate for increasingly
skinny jeans is expected to get a mixed reception
as many consumers' waistlines are growing wider.
While colors have become more lively in recent
weeks, they still show "drabness" compared with
recent seasons, says Eric Beder, analyst at Brean Murray, Carret & Co.
Two teen-apparel standouts -- American Eagle
Outfitters Inc. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. --
reported less-than-stellar results, with
comparable sales at American Eagle rising just 3%
and Abercrombie's sales coming in flat. But other
chains oriented toward a younger clientele
continued to show strength, with Chico's FAS Inc.
reporting an 8.4% climb, Guess Inc. seeing an
8.1% increase and Wet Seal Inc. reporting a 16.2%
jump. Comparable sales at Bebe Stores Inc. rose 4.1%.
Gap Inc., which has been hammered in recent
months by competition from both teen chains and
from more conservative retailers, said sales at
stores open at least a year plummeted 13%. The
operator of Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic
stores backed its forecast of negative same-store
sales for the first half of the year.
Among other mall-based apparel stores, Limited
Brands Inc. said same-store sales rose 2% last
month, while New York & Co. sales plunged 15.7%.
Talbot's Inc. saw a 3.4% decline, while AnnTaylor
Stores Corp.'s same-store sales rose 0.8%.
Sales at department stores were mostly sluggish.
Federated Department Stores Inc. said Thursday
its March sales at stores open at least one year
were flat. Federated expects same-store sales to
decline 2.5% to 3.5% in the April period,
reflecting a late Mother's Day. Nordstrom Inc.'s
same-store sales rose 4.3% but J.C. Penney Co.'s
fell 1%. Dillard's Inc. said March sales at
stores open at least one year were unchanged.
Most analysts anticipate that warmer temperatures
and pent-up demand for spring goods will fuel
sales in April and keep first-quarter profits
intact. In addition, a recent slowdown in auto
sales likely will free up wallets to spend more
on apparel, electronics and other retail goods.
URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114432185573518717.html
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