Target Posts Same-Store Sales Gain in Holiday Period

Target posted a 3.4% gain in same-store sales during the November-December period, outstripping an earlier forecast for a 0-2% increase as it benefited from private label brands and stores filling online orders, the company said. Target carried nearly a dozen private label brands – Cat and Jack, Joy Lab and others – and its stores filled nearly 70 percent of the chain’s online orders during the November-December period. As a result of the holiday sales, Target boosted its forecast for earnings in Q4 ending this month to $1.30-$1.40 from $1.05-$1.25. Meanwhile, Target this year will add more private label brands, open 30 small format (49,000 square feet) locations and triple the number of store remodels from a year ago to 325.

Contact:

Target, Cathy Smith, Chief Financial Officer, 612-304-6073, cathy.smith@target.com

Five Below Opening 125 Stores in 2018, Sees Room in U.S. for 2,500

Five Below will open 125 outlets this year in entering its 15th state (Arkansas) and increased its forecast number for U.S. stores 25% to 2,500, CEO Joel Anderson told investors at the ICR Conference in Orlando. Five Below opened 100 locations last year and operates 625 stores, each averaging about $1.9 million in annual sales. The top-performing stores are in the New York Metro area (37) where the average per store annual revenue is $1.9 million, while those in the Southeast U.S. (42 locations) are at the lower end ($1.81 million), Anderson said. Five Below’s customers have a median annual income of $80,000 and spend about $150 annually in making an average of 10 trips to the stores, Anderson said. About 25% of Five Below shoppers have annual incomes under $50,000, the same percentage as those with incomes above $100,000, Anderson said.

Contact:

Five Below, Kenneth Bull, Chief Financial Officer, 215-546-7909

Chef Maeve Launching Licensing Program

Chef Maeve Rochford, building on a win in a Food Network baking contest, is launching her first licensed retail program – a 22-SKU bakeware collection from licensee Ultima Consumer Products that will be introduced at HomeGoods stores on April 1, says Coastal Limited’s Paul Leonhardt, whose firm represents Rochford. HomeGoods had 596 stores as of April 2017. Rochford also signed a deal with meal delivery service Chef’d that will feature six branded meals starting in May and has landed a TV series with Banca Studio, best known for its “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” and “Flea Market Flip” programs. Rochford opened her Sugar and Scribe bakery in La Jolla, CA in 2010 and won Food Network’s Holiday Baking Contest in 2015 in besting 10 competitors for a $50,000 first prize.

Contacts:

Banca Studio, Roy Bank, CEO, 424-272-8080

Chef’d, Jemie Sae Koo, VP Marketing, 310-607-9855

Coastal Limited, Paul Leonhardt, Partner, 619-518-5808, paul@coastallimited.com

HomeGoods, Gail Karagianis, EVP Merchandising, 508-390-1000

Sugar and Scribe, Maeve Rochford, Owner,858-274-1733