Business - Retail

September consumer sales drop sharply: MasterCard

Tue Oct 7, 12:23 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. shoppers worried by shrinking bank and retirement accounts tamped down spending across the board in September as the country's financial crisis worsened, MasterCard Advisors said in a report on Tuesday.

  • Financial turmoil takes toll on September sales Mon Oct 6, 3:45 PM ET

    WHAT'S UP: Retailers are expected to report dismal same-store sales figures on Wednesday, providing the first full gauge of consumer behavior since the financial meltdown began. The only bright spots will be discounters and wholesale clubs as customers focus on bare-bone essentials.

  • Lorraine Sanchez, right, and Van Ma, second from right, shop at a Wal-Mart Supercenter Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008, in Rosemead, Calif. Retailers' monthly sales reports for September, set to be released Wednesday, are expected to show how the financial meltdown has taken a toll on already fragile consumers. (AP Photo/Ric Francis)
    Stores expected to report dismal September sales Mon Oct 6, 3:11 PM ET

    NEW YORK - The weak retail sales merchants had been expected to post for September will likely prove to have been a disaster as the financial meltdown that began halfway through the month sent shoppers into hiding.

  • Shoppers exit a Family Dollar store on the north side of Houston operating by generator and accepting cash only as the area recovers following Hurricane Ike September 17, 2008. REUTERS/Richard Carson (UNITED STATES)
    Family Dollar profit tops estimates Fri Oct 3, 8:01 AM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Family Dollar Stores Inc posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Friday, helped by shoppers who spent tax rebate checks at the discount retailer and by closely controlling costs.

  • Yvonne Rodriguez, left, Star Caasi, 3, and Sara Luna shop for movies at a Walmart Supercenter Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008, in Rosemead, Calif. Alarmed by the financial meltdown, stores nationwide are slapping sale signs on everything from fall sweaters to furniture — frantically trying to attract shoppers who are cutting back. (AP Photo/Ric Francis)
    Financial crisis moves from Wall St. to the mall Thu Oct 2, 6:00 PM ET

    NEW YORK - Alarmed by the financial meltdown, stores nationwide are slapping sale signs on everything from fall sweaters to furniture — frantically trying to attract shoppers who are cutting back.

  • Summary Box: Financial crisis moves to stores Thu Oct 2, 5:26 PM ET

    MELTDOWN MOVES TO THE MALL: Stores worry the financial meltdown will make for slower sales this holiday season. They're stepping up discounts on fall goods.

  • In this June 20, 2005 file photo, used cars fill the lot at a Carmax location in Merriam, Kan. CarMax on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008 said it is laying off 600 employees as the auto retailer tries to cut costs due to a decline in car and truck sales. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, file)
    CarMax laying off more than 600 service workers Wed Oct 1, 4:37 PM ET

    RICHMOND, Va. - CarMax Inc. said Wednesday it is laying off more than 600 employees, or about 4 percent of its total work force, as the auto retailer tries to cut costs due to a decline in car and truck sales.

  • A woman walks past a shop window in Berlin. German retail sales posted a surprise jump in August as energy prices eased, but analysts were divided over whether the boost would prevent Europe's biggest economy from falling into recession.(AFP/File/John Macdougall)
    German retail sales rebound in August Wed Oct 1, 5:22 AM ET

    FRANKFURT (AFP) - German retail sales posted a surprise jump in August as energy prices eased, but analysts were divided over whether the boost would prevent Europe's biggest economy from falling into recession.

  • A worker brings carts back into a Walmart store in Westminster, Colorado August 14, 2008. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)
    In early holiday push, Wal-Mart cutting toy prices Wed Oct 1, 12:13 AM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc is cutting prices on popular toys and ramping up the opening of Christmas shops in its U.S. stores as the retailer tries to win sales from cash-strapped shoppers ahead of what could be the worst holiday season in 17 years.

  • File photo shows a shopping trolley loaded with plastic bags at a Tesco supermarket in Liverpool, north-west England. Britain's biggest retailer has said that its net profit jumped by almost 11 percent during the group's first half to more than one billion pounds.(AFP/File/Paul Ellis)
    British supermarket Tesco says net profit up 11 percent in first half Tue Sep 30, 2:59 AM ET

    LONDON (AFP) - Britain's biggest retailer Tesco said on Tuesday that its net profit jumped by almost 11 percent during the group's first half to more than one billion pounds as it beat off economic woes.

  • Exterior of Circuit City store in East Palo Alto, Calif., Monday, Sept. 29, 2008. Circuit City Stores Inc. posted a wider second-quarter loss and withdrew its fiscal 2009 outlook Monday, amid sluggish sales, poor traffic and heightened competition. Its shares fell nearly 9 percent as investors worried about the company's future. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
    Circuit City has bigger 2Q loss, withdraws outlook Mon Sep 29, 6:52 PM ET

    RICHMOND, Va. - Circuit City Stores Inc. withdrew its outlook for the full year and posted a wider second-quarter loss Monday as it looks toward a holiday shopping season which has even the least vulnerable retailers worried.

  • A Circuit City store is seen in Dallas, Texas June 19, 2008. (Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters)
    Circuit City posts loss, withdraws outlook Mon Sep 29, 9:30 AM ET

    ATLANTA (Reuters) - Circuit City Stores reported a wider quarterly loss and withdrew its financial outlook on Monday as the electronics retailer reviews its business, sending its shares down 10 percent in premarket trading.

  • Circuit City departing CEO gets $1.8M in severance Thu Sep 25, 6:07 PM ET

    RICHMOND, Va. - Circuit City Stores Inc.'s departing chief executive is receiving at least $1.8 million in a severance deal after resigning from his post at the consumer electronics retailer earlier this week, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday.

  • Chester McClendon, a 38-year-old mail carrier finally reaches the gas pump after he waited in line at a QuikTrip gas station in Sandy Springs, Ga., for about 40 minutes to fill his mail truck Tuesday. Sept. 23. 2008. The station is about 10-12 miles off his route and he went there after another mail carrier told him the station had gas. It was the only one in the area with gas, according to a police officer at the station. More than a week after Hurricane Ike's strike, drivers across the Southeast are still bouncing between dry pumps and shuttered stations in a frustrating hunt for a fill-up -- and they're starting to get angry. (AP Photo/Kate Brumback)
    Southeast gas shortage squeezes small retailers Thu Sep 25, 5:27 PM ET

    WOODSTOCK, Ga. - Ralph Sheffield's tidy gas station has stayed open around the clock for 13 years, keeping the lights on even during lonely Christmas mornings and the slow holiday season.

  • A shopper loads shopping bags into a trolley at a Tesco store in Liverpool. Britain's biggest retailer Tesco has said it had taken certain Chinese sweets off its shelves due to fears over the contaminated milk product scandal.(AFP/File/Paul Ellis)
    British supermarket withdraws Chinese sweets over milk fears Wed Sep 24, 7:31 AM ET

    LONDON (AFP) - Britain's biggest retailer Tesco said Wednesday it had taken certain Chinese sweets off its shelves due to fears over the contaminated milk product scandal.

  • Circuit City Inc. CEO Philip J. Schoonover poses in front of a display of widescreen televisions at the Circuit City store in Glen Allen, Va., Nov. 21, 2005. Schoonover, 48, stepped down Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, and was replaced by a board member appointed to defuse a fierce proxy battle as the struggling electronics retailer steps up its turnaround effort. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
    Circuit City seeks jolt as embattled CEO departs Tue Sep 23, 5:42 PM ET

    RICHMOND, Va. - A change at the top may not be enough to jump-start Circuit City Stores Inc., after the head of the nation's No. 2 consumer electronics retailer abruptly resigned amid plummeting stock prices and calls for his ouster.

  • Mass. court reinstates lawsuit against Wal-Mart Tue Sep 23, 3:54 PM ET

    BOSTON - The highest court in Massachusetts has reinstated a 2001 lawsuit against Wal-Mart by employees who claim the world's largest retailer pressured them to work off the clock and denied them rest and meal breaks.

  • Retail trade group offers weak holiday forecast Tue Sep 23, 10:52 AM ET

    NEW YORK - Holiday sales are expected to grow at the slowest pace in six years as shoppers worry about jobs, the housing and stock markets and high gas and food prices, according to a forecast from the National Retail Federation being released Tuesday.

  • Circuit City CEO resigns amid troubles Tue Sep 23, 7:05 AM ET

    RICHMOND, Va. - The chief executive at Circuit City Stores Inc. stepped down Monday and was replaced by a board member appointed to defuse a fierce proxy battle as the struggling electronics retailer steps up its turnaround effort.

  • Gap buys Athleta for $150 million in cash Mon Sep 22, 4:30 PM ET

    NEW YORK - Clothing retailer Gap Inc. announced late Monday that it is buying Athleta Inc., a women's sports and active apparel company, for about $150 million in cash, as part of its strategy to diversity its brand offerings.

  • A CarMax lot is seen in this February, 2008 handout photo. (CarMax/Handout/Reuters)
    CarMax earnings fall on weak sales, finance losses Mon Sep 22, 4:11 PM ET

    RICHMOND, Va. - Auto retailer CarMax Inc. said Monday its second-quarter earnings plunged 78 percent due to a weak economy, high gasoline prices and losses in its financing arm. The results were worse than analysts expected and the company's shares fell 8 percent.

  • CarMax profit tumbles amid slowing economy Mon Sep 22, 8:33 AM ET

    DETROIT (Reuters) - CarMax Inc , the largest U.S. retailer of used cars, on Monday said quarterly profit plunged 78 percent, hurt by a slowing economy and falling resale values of trucks and sport utility vehicles.

  • An AutoZone employee is pictured at a store in Los Angeles, May 20, 2008. (Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)
    AutoZone quarterly earnings up despite downturn Mon Sep 22, 7:52 AM ET

    DETROIT (Reuters) - AutoZone Inc , the largest U.S. auto-parts retailer, reported a 12.2 percent rise in quarterly profit on Monday as it expanded stores despite a steep downturn in U.S. auto sales.

  • AutoZone earnings rise despite downturn Mon Sep 22, 7:16 AM ET

    DETROIT (Reuters) - AutoZone Inc , the largest U.S. auto parts retailer, reported a 12.2 percent rise in quarterly profit on Monday as it expanded stores despite a steep downturn in U.S. auto sales.

  • Hedge funds seen switching short exposure to retail Fri Sep 19, 11:28 AM ET

    LONDON (Reuters) - Hedge funds are likely to increase short exposure to retail stocks following a ban on short selling financial shares imposed by UK and U.S. regulators, industry insiders said on Friday.

  • An employee walks near the Best Buy Mobile section of a Best Buy store in Mountain View, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008. Best Buy Co. said Tuesday that its second-quarter profit slid 19 percent as it spent money to boost cell phone sales by completing the rollout of its Best Buy Mobile concept to nearly 1,000 North American stores. Revenue rose, however, as consumers bought more flat-panel TVs, laptops and cell phones, ahead of forecasts. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
    Best Buy 2Q profit slides 19 percent Tue Sep 16, 3:26 PM ET

    CHICAGO - Best Buy Co. said Tuesday that its second-quarter profit slid 19 percent as it spent money to boost cell phone sales by completing the rollout of its Best Buy Mobile concept to nearly 1,000 North American stores.

  • A Best Buy store in Westminster, Colorado June 27, 2007. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)
    Best Buy profit below view on expenses, shares off Tue Sep 16, 11:43 AM ET

    ATLANTA (Reuters) - Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Co posted a steeper-than-expected drop in quarterly profit as it spent more than planned to bolster its stores, sending shares down 5 percent.

  • In this Aug. 2, 2006 file photo, promotional Napster stickers are seen at the Napster studio in Los Angeles. Napster Inc., the online music community that rose from a dorm room project to became the scourge of the global recording industry, is being purchased by Best Buy Inc. for nearly $127 million as the electronics retailer tries to boost its digital music business, it was announced Monday, Sept. 15, 2008. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, file)
    Best Buy to acquire music-sharer Napster Mon Sep 15, 5:15 PM ET

    CHICAGO - Napster Inc., the online music community that rose from a dorm room project to became the scourge of the global recording industry, is being purchased by Best Buy Inc. for nearly $127 million as the electronics retailer tries to boost its digital music business.

  • Home Depot employees load a generator onto a cart as customers wait in line inside the building and home supply store near downtown as Houston braced for the arrival of Hurricane Ike September 11, 2008. (Richard Carson/Reuters)
    Retailers grapple with impacts of Hurricane Ike Sun Sep 14, 7:37 PM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Retailers in the Houston area scrambled on Sunday to stock shelves and open stores forced to close, as they tried to meet high demand for emergency supplies in the wake of Hurricane Ike.