Each week, we highlight five articles of interest focusing on the retail/consumer space. Enjoy.

True Religion Wins $863.9M Cybersquatting Suit Click to Open PDF
Good luck collecting the award. But, interesting nonetheless. While the same lawyers represented TRLG as RL and VFC, the damage award was 11X greater for TRLG.
Published: Wednesday, March 30, 2012
Source: WWD

Best Buy Forced to Rethink Big Box Click to Open PDF
While this week’s strategic initiatives are welcome, the BBY management may have been the last to have realized that their big-box strategy was so 1990′s. A majority of these initiatives would likely have been implemented 18-24 months ago if the company were under the direction of a more forward thinking management team.
Published: Wednesday, March 30, 2012
Source: WSJ (more…)

Each week, we provide a PDF of 5 articles of interest to investors focus on the retail/consumer space. Enjoy.

Can McDonald’s Keep Up the Pace? Click to Open PDF
Let’s see. Retirement announced suddenly and Mr. Thompson unavailable for an interview. Something’s filet-o-fishy here. But, how the company successfully delivered 106 consecutive months with comp sales increases is remarkable.
Posted: Thursday, March 22, 2012
Source: WSJ

China Factory Activity Slows, Stoking Market Fears Click to Open PDF
Manufacturing slows in China just as the picture improves here in the U.S.
Posted: Thursday, March 22, 2012
Source: WSJ

Amazon Faces Taxing Times Click to Open PDF
AMZN begins collecting sales tax here in California beginning in September. Do investors want to stick around and see how this plays out?
Posted: Thursday, March 22, 2012
Source: WSJ

The Goal: A Perfect First-Time Fit Click to Open PDF
According to this article, 20% to 40% of all online purchases are returned. Ouch!
Posted: Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Source: WSJ

Taubman to Open Regional Mall in Utah Click to Open PDF
The first regional mall to open in the U.S. since 2006… and the only reason this project made it across the finish line was large investment by the Mormon Church.
Posted: Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Source: WWD

Each week, we provide a PDF of 5 articles of interest to investors focus on the retail/consumer space. Enjoy.

McDonald’s, Carrefour Apologize to Chinese Consumers Click to Open PDF
Interestingly, MCD’s egregious error in China was allowing chicken wings to be sold after being left on a warming tray for 84 minutes (versus a limit of 30 minutes). Clearly, regulators are much tougher in China than they are here in the U.S.
Posted: Friday, March 16, 2012
Source: WSJ

Abercrombie & Fitch Stock Weakness Invites Speculation Click to Open PDF
The stock is weak for a reason. ANF management has failed to deliver on their financial forecasts of late. We’ll go on the record as saying that we’re highly skeptical ANF delivers EPS north of $3.00 in the current fiscal year (guidance = $3.50 to $3.75).
Posted: Thursday, March 15, 2012
Source: WWD

Concern Hits Penney’s Stock Click to Open PDF
Congrats to Mr. Grom of Deutsche Bank. It’s rare to find an analyst that even implicitly criticizes a management team. We do it regularly. But, at the traditional sell-side shops, not so much. In our view, JCP is going to be one of the biggest flops in retailing history (relative to the hype it generated in the investment community).
Posted: Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Source: WWD

American Apparel Faces Crunch of Debt, Losses Click to Open PDF
They’re still kicking. While it’s debt levels are higher, it’s worth noting that the adjusted EBITDA of $14.5M in FY 2011 was greater than CWTR (-$34.2M per our calculation), CTRN ($8.8M per our calculation), NWY ($5.0M per our calculation), OSTK (-$1.2M per our calculation), and PSUN (-$31.8M per our calculation).
Posted: Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Source: WWD

Retail Apparel Prices Slip in February Click to Open PDF
While prices declined in February 2012 versus January 2012, it’s worth noting that all apparel prices were +4.2% higher in February 2012 versus February 2011.
Posted: Friday, March 16, 2012
Source: WWD

Reminder: We like to look at the Commerce Department data on a comp basis (year-over-year change). Hey, it’s government data, so caveat emptor. See Full Report Here.

Big picture, our favorite measure of “what’s happening at the mall” (excludes Motor Vehicles, Gasoline, and Building Materials) suggests a +4.4% year-over-year sales improvement in February 2012 versus LY. This represents a deceleration versus the +4.9% growth rate in January 2012.

The most compelling category specific storylines in February 2012 were:

• February 2012 represented the 28th consecutive month of positive year-over-year growth for our favorite “mall” measuring stick. But, year-over-year growth again decelerated versus the prior month.

• The following categories have reported a sales deceleration in QTD Q1 2012 versus Q4 2011: Electronics & Appliance Stores, Food & Beverage: Grocery Stores, Health & Personal Care Stores, Gasoline Stations, Motor Vehicles & Parts Dealers, and Non-Store Retailers. All other categories reported an acceleration of year-over-year sales growth thus far in 2012 versus Q4 2011.

• This month’s headline is the dramatic sales growth deceleration in the Health & Personal Care Stores category in the first two months of 2012.

• After 24 consecutive months with year-over-year sales growth in the double digits, the Non-Store Retailers again reported a relatively modest +HSD growth rate in February 2012.

• Building & Garden Equipment Supplies Dealers reported impressive year-over-year growth in February 2012 (+13.8% in February 2012 follows +10.5% in January 2012). Comparisons in March/April 2012 will be even easier to lap.

• Sure, Food Service & Drinking Places likely benefitted from favorable weather in January 2012 and February 2012 versus LY. But, the category’s February 2012 growth rate of +8.2% versus LY continues to outperform.

Monthly “Big Picture — what’s happening at the mall” year-over-year results for the trailing 6 months:

July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012

+6.6% (+11.1% 2-year) +5.9% (+10.9% 2-year) +6.0% (+11.1% 2-year) +6.0% (+11.3% 2-year) +5.2% (+11.3% 2-year) +4.8% (+10.2% 2-year) +4.9% (+10.6% 2-year) +4.4% (+10.0% 2-year)

Let’s be honest. Management teams are always putting their best foot forward. Press releases and conference calls are filled with Truthiness.

Each week, we’ll challenge “managerial spin” and offer some news and commentary about the retail industry. You are encouraged to provide any feedback to info@RetailGeeks.com.

Click to Open PDF (more…)