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West Marine Inc. reported Thursday that its net revenues for the quarter ended July 3 were $233.4 million, an increase of 8.4% over the year-ago period.Same-store sales jumped 9.4%.According to the company, sales benefitted from warmer weather in the northeast. However, “in the southeast, we have been starting to feel the effects of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as boating activities are increasingly restricted,” said Geoff Eisenberg, CEO.West Marine, a specialty retailer of boating supplies and accessories, operates 330 company-operated stores in 38 states, Puerto Rico and Canada, and two franchised stores in Turkey.

A survey released Thursday by the International Council of Shopping Centers found that the back-to-school spending season is forecast to increase 5.4% over last year.In 2009, the retail store categories that the U.S. Commerce Department segments as back-to-school -- family clothing, shoes, electronics and books -- dropped 2.8%; in 2008, they dipped 0.4%.July 2009 back-to-school sales were particularly weak, declining 5.9%.“Based on arithmetic alone, the expected July jump in BTS spending could be extremely strong,” said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist and director of research for ICSC. “Layer on some fundamental improvement in the consumer economy, including some pickup

JoS. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. said Thursday it has opened its first factory concept store, in Riverhead, N.Y.The new store is the first of five the specialty retailer says it will open in fiscal year 2010 as part of the test phase of its new factory store concept.In addition, JoS. A. Bank said it has launched a new website,� Josbankfactorystores.com, dedicated to the products offered under this new factory store concept.“We are excited about kicking off our factory store initiative,” said R. Neal Black, president and CEO. “We believe this concept could represent a significant long-term opportunity for the

Back-to-school spending may rise as much as 16 percent in the U.S. this year, reversing year-ago declines and putting more muscle behind the economic rebound. Families with students plan to spend about $55.1 billion in the period, compared with $47.5 billion a year earlier, the National Retail Federation said, citing consumers surveyed by BIGResearch.

The mobile Web can augment the in-store shopping experience as many consumers check and compare competitors’ products and prices as they actually peruse store aisles and contemplate purchases. This was a key finding in Compuware Gomez Mobile Benchmark Review of May 2010.

Women’s clothing retailer Ann Taylor has just launched its first Foursquare promotion. Shoppers who check in to one of the company’s eight New York City stores will receive 15 percent off their full-price purchase upon their fifth checkin and Mayors will receive 25 percent off their purchases of non-sale apparel and accessories.

Soap.com is a new online store from Quidsi, the parent company of Diapers.com, that offers 25,000 products from more than 900 brands in the health, beauty, personal care and household categories. The company said its prices are "up to 25 percent less than most drugstores," and it offers free 2-day shipping. Soap.com competes with Alice.com, a site that launched last year that provides an open platform for consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers to sell directly to consumers. Soap.com said it plans to offer more than 40,000 products by the end of 2010 and more than 100,000 by the end

Carrefour SA, the world’s second-largest retailer behind Wal-Mart Stores, said Thursday that its revenue increased 6.3% in the second quarter.The French retailer credited growth in Latin America and Asia for the strong performance.Carrefour said that it also gained market share in France, which accounts for 40% of its sales. According to reports, improving the company’s performance in its home country has been a top priority for the new CEO Lars Olofsson, who took the helm last year.Revenue rose to euro24.92 billion ($31.97 billion) in the three months through June, from euro23.44 billion a year ago.Sales rose 34% in Carrefour's

STOCKHOLM -(Dow Jones)- Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB (HM-B.SK) Thursday reported a 9% rise in comparable store sales in June after its sales a year earlier were weighed by slow consumer spending in the economic downturn. H&M, the world's third-largest fashion chain after U.S.-based Gap Inc. (GPS) and Spain's Inditex S.A. (ITX.MC), slightly underperformed expectations for an 11% rise in stores open longer than one year. The company's total sales, including sales in new stores, were up 20% in June, just below forecasts of a 21% rise. A strong sales increase had been expected after H&M in

The Senate passed an extension of the date for gift card disclosure requirements in the 2009 credit card transparency law.