Chain Stores

Consumers went shopping in force in the traditionally weak month of February, snapping up brand-name apparel and home goods and driving sales at the nation's biggest retailers above expectations."

Consumers are still holding back on spending, and that uncertainty led to a slowdown in retail sales momentum last week, an index that measures national retail business shows. The index released Tuesday by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs has tracked a mix of positive and negative sales results so far in June. For the week ending June 23, sales grew by just 2.7 percent compared to the same period in 2011. The index measures  sales at stores open at least a year and represents about 40 chain stores but does not include restaurant or automobile sales.

Retailers slashed prices to move merchandise, and some consumers spent their tax rebates, boosting July sales moderately at the nation's biggest chain stores. Discounters - led by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. - benefited most as cautious consumers bought mostly necessities such as food and household goods. Even with deeper than usual discounts, fewer shoppers came through the stores during the month than in July last year, retailers said. The National Retail Traffic Index compiled by Chicago analytics firm RCT showed traffic off 4.2 percent in July.

If local pharmacists could write the regulations, Marylanders probably wouldn't ever have been allowed to get their prescriptions filled at chain stores like Walgreens and Rite-Aid. Independent video stores probably would have liked to outlaw Blockbuster, just as small bookstore owners probably would have been just as happy if the state had a ban on Barnes & Noble. (For that matter, Blockbuster might like an injunction against Netflix and Barnes & Noble on Amazon.com.) And most of all, Main Street merchants everywhere would probably love a world where Walmart was illegal.

The nation's chain retailers turned in a solid performance in January as consumers capped a year-long spending frenzy by seeking out winter clearance sales. A survey of 71 chain stores showed an average sales increase of 5.4 percent, according to Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi. A measure based on sales volume of check-writing consumers at a cross section of retailers showed that sales rose 4.6 percent, said check-acceptance company TeleCheck Services Inc. Despite winter storms late in the month in the Southeast and Northeast and a post Y2K slowdown in spending in some categories, sales remained brisk, as they have for the past year, said Michael P. Niemira, a vice president at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.

Retail sales inched up moderately in June at the nation's chain stores, as wary consumers spent cautiously in the slowing economy. Worried about layoffs, high fuel costs and a volatile stock market, shoppers were more apt to buy necessities than discretionary goods. Consumers turned largely to mass discounters and warehouse clubs and bypassed department and specialty stores that sell mostly apparel, sales results released yesterday showed. Sales rose an average 2.8 percent in June compared with June 2000, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi said in an index of 80 chain stores.

You won't find see-through plastic visors decorated with a drawing of the local mission here. Or hot-pink sunglasses shaped like seashells. And you won't find postcards of bikini-popping blondes crowing about Carmel's sandy splendors.But there's a queasy feeling here nonetheless.A dread that Carmel, Calif., may -- just may -- be turning tacky.Sure, Ocean Avenue, the premiere downtown strolling strip, is still dimpled with cozy little courtyards and genteel nook-and-cranny boutiques. But locals complain that the stale, canned look of a shopping mall has started to congeal over parts of downtown.

Even Federal Hill's time had to come. The neighborhood, one of Baltimore's most gentrified, is filled with so many young urban professionals with cash to spend, and so many vacant storefronts. Now, some business leaders say, the area is ready to bring in retailers. And they want the chains. They're talking Gaps, Banana Republics, Foot Lockers, almost anything found at the tourist-friendly Gallery at the Inner Harbor just a mile away. Not everyone agrees with trying to attract the prolific, homogenized stores that have become a measure of successful urban renewal.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- If this fiercely independent city has a spiritual center, it is neither a church nor a synagogue nor a mosque. It is Harvard Square. As chain outlets and malls spread across the rest of the country, the small, independent merchants here shrugged, disdaining the accouterments of late 20th century capitalism.The Square is the half-dozen blocks near the confluence of Massachusetts Avenue and JFK Street. By the standards of the contemporary urban United States, it is a rare social leveler.

Will success spoil Hampden? Well, what do you mean by success? And spoil? And what, for that matter, do you mean by Hampden? A group of merchants that calls itself Independent Hampden wants a city ordinance that would deter (but not bar) chain stores from locating on The Avenue, otherwise known as 36th Street. They argue that the commercial spine of their North Baltimore neighborhood has become a little urban gem, attracting people from all over to take advantage of the accumulation of eclectic restaurants and cafM-is, antique stores, book shops, clothing and jewelry boutiques and emporia of assorted objets.

The kerfuffle over the proposed wine store in Wegmans' newest location in Columbia heralds the next looming battle in consumers' fight to modernize Maryland's alcohol policy. The recent Howard County liquor board hearing demonstrated the intensity of both sides' arguments. The local retailers, backed by the alcohol distributors, fear increased competition — while consumer groups clamor for greater convenience and selection, and lower prices. The alcohol industry in Maryland has traditionally dictated its own regulations.

Robert Levine is a jeweler by trade. His dream home on Baltimore's northern line reflects an environment that, in his words, "was treated as though it was a piece of fine jewelry." The pink brick, chateau-style house rests at the center of a semi-circular driveway, its periphery emblazoned with lush azalea bushes, in contrast to spiral topiary at the double-door entrance with its wrought-iron outer doors. Visitors are often greeted at the marble-floored entrance hall by the deep resonance of a large brass Indian gong that stands next to a 19th-century teak Buddha from Burma.

Visitors to The Yuppy Puppy, an Ellicott City boutique for pets that have everything, are typically welcomed by two tiny balls of canine enthusiasm. Recently, Ellie, a mix of toy fox terrier and Chihuahua, was wearing a "snoozle," which is sort of like a bandanna, as well as a shirt with the words "desperate housedogs" spelled out in sparkling studs. Brendle, a Maltese, wore a harlequin-style collar with points of colorful fabric around her face, and a shirt that said "spoiled." Owner Holly Hoenes, who opened the Main Street store about a year and a half ago, said that Brendle is her dog, but she is taking care of Ellie for a friend.

Will success spoil Hampden? Well, what do you mean by success? And spoil? And what, for that matter, do you mean by Hampden? A group of merchants that calls itself Independent Hampden wants a city ordinance that would deter (but not bar) chain stores from locating on The Avenue, otherwise known as 36th Street. They argue that the commercial spine of their North Baltimore neighborhood has become a little urban gem, attracting people from all over to take advantage of the accumulation of eclectic restaurants and cafM-is, antique stores, book shops, clothing and jewelry boutiques and emporia of assorted objets.

Safeway Inc. is caught in the middle of extremes in a supermarket world where specialty stores dominate one end and discounters the other. With new television commercials set to begin Monday, the California-based company - the second-largest grocer in the Baltimore area behind Giant Food - is spending $100 million on a new advertising campaign. To further redefine itself, the 90-year- old chain is remaking stores, its logo and its slogan. "Wal-Mart at one end of the spectrum, and Whole Foods and Trader Joe's at the other end of the spectrum have chipped away at the total grocery share," said Michael Minasi, Safeway's senior vice president of marketing.

Under a scorching summer sun, two dozen shoppers strolled through the new Pikesville Farmers' Market on a quest to find the perfect peach, the ripest tomato or the freshest blueberries. Many echoed the sentiments of Dan Gorman, who was exuberant about being able to buy fresh, organic produce in his community. More than 350 people have been coming to the market, on Walker Avenue in the parking lot next to the Pikesville Library, every Tuesday since it opened in July, said co-manager Gabe Rosenbush.

CHICAGO -- Chain stores reported yesterday that their September sales were weak, confirming that consumers are feeling the double pinch of higher oil prices and a rising unemployment rate, analysts said.Compared with September of 1989, Wal-Mart was among the strongest performers with a 9 percent increase for stores that have been open at least a year, also known as a comparable-store sales. Melville was up 18.8 percent. Several other retailers, however, reported sales declines.The chains' September sales averaged a 1 percent decline from August, according to estimates by Martin Mauro, a senior economist at Merrill Lynch in New York, and Michael Niemira, an economist at Mitsubishi Bank, also in New York.

In asking a judge to decide whether a 30-year-old state statute prohibits chain restaurants from serving alcohol, the county finds itself defending a law it doesn't particularly agree with.The law -- which bans liquor sales at chain stores, supermarkets and discount houses -- was cited in 1989 by the county's liquor board as the reason for not issuing a liquor license to a Pizza Hut restaurant in Hampstead.The county says that for purposes of the law, a chain restaurant is a chain store, but a lawyer for the owner of the county's six Pizza Hut restaurants calls that interpretation "unreasonable, illogical and inconsistent with common sense."

From the charm of boutiques and galleries along the streets of historic Annapolis to the lure of bargain-hunting at local malls - and the glitz and bustle of Arundel Mills - the merchants of Anne Arundel County are quick to promote the area's retail diversity. "Shopping is an experience here," said Melanie Suggs, president of the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Conference and Visitors Bureau. "So much of it occurs in unique places, and everything is easy to get to. There are pockets of shopping all over the county, and our choices are growing."

Wall Street is reacting with calm detachment to the news that Home Depot will drop Black & Decker Corp.'s plumbing products from many of its stores. The Towson-based toolmaker had noted in its second-quarter filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that "a major retailer" was expected to significantly reduce shelf space for Black & Decker's Price Pfister faucet line and that it would affect the manufacturer's overall revenue. Black & Decker confirmed Monday that that retailer was Home Depot Inc. and that the plumbing line is being phased out of the chain's Midwest and East Coast stores.