Tools We Love
Friday, July 31st, 2009Southern Living, Sep 2006 by Florio, Donna
The Foods staff spends a lot of time in the kitchen, both personally and professionally, so good tools are high on our must-have lists. Well-designed ones save time or at least simplify meal preparation. So when several Test Kitchens Professionals and Foods Editors sing the praises of a particular gadget, we all take notice. Here are a few that most of us have in our collections, along with some suggested uses.
We can’t say this often enough: Among our favorite time-savers to come along in recent years are Microplane graters. Modeled on a woodworker’s plane, these handy utensils shred everything from chocolate to soft cheese with ease. Before buying, consider what you’ll be grating most.
The version with the smallest cutting holes makes short work of tedious kitchen tasks, such as grating citrus peel, garlic, and ginger. Most importantly, when you gently pull the grating edge across an orange, lemon, or lime, it scrapes off only the oilrich rind without getting the bitter pith. Use the larger Microplane tools to grate chocolate for dusting desserts or pasteurized processed cheese for that veggie-plate standard, macaroni and cheese.
For added convenience, hold the Microplane grater over a flexible cutting board
Casual Male Retail Group, Inc. Reports Sales and Operating Results for First Quarter of Fiscal 2009
Friday, July 31st, 2009PR Newswire, May 21, 2009
CANTON, Mass., May 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Casual Male Retail Group, Inc. , retail brand operator of Casual Male XL, Rochester Clothing, B&T; Factory Direct, Living XL and Shoes XL, announced today its sales and operating results for the first quarter of fiscal 2009.
Sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 decreased 9.4% to $97.6 million from $107.6 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2008. Comparable sales for the thirteen week period ended May 2, 2009 decreased 10.7%.
Our net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 was $336,000, or $0.01 per diluted share, as compared to net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2008 of $96,000, or $0.00 per diluted share.
David Levin, President and CEO, stated, “As we had anticipated, our sales trend in the first quarter continued to be negatively impacted by the weakened economy. However, the Company’s sales performance is consistent with our 2009 business plan and profitability exceeded our planned expectations. Even with the $10 million drop in sales, we had positive operating results and ended the first quarter with net income of $336,000, slightly better than the prior year. This resulting profitability was principally due to successful reductions in our SG&A; cost structure. We believe that our current business model will allow us not only to strengthen our financial position during a very difficult economic downturn, but also position the Company for improved operating results and free cash flow for the future.”
Dennis Hernreich, EVP and COO/CFO, added, “During the first quarter, in response to continued economic uncertainty and in order to align our operating infrastructure to the expected decline in top-line sales, we further reduced SG&A; by an additional $15 million by reprioritizing business activities and functions. These cost reductions, in combination with the originally planned reductions, result in a 17% decrease from 2008 SG&A; levels, or $30 million on an annualized basis, of which approximately $26 million is expected to be realized in 2009. The cost reductions implemented during the quarter relate primarily to re-focusing our marketing spend on our most productive customer base, reductions in our corporate headcount, store and distribution productivity improvements, and renegotiation of numerous service and supply contracts. In total, these reductions will bring our 2009 SG&A; back to 2005 levels.”
Sales
Both our retail and direct channels experienced similar decreases during the first quarter of fiscal 2009, contributing to our overall 10.7% comparable sales decrease. Our Casual Male business had a comparable sales decrease of 6.7% while our Rochester business experienced a 26.9% comparable sales decrease. Similar to other luxury retailers, our Rochester division has been significantly impacted by the recession.
Gross Margin
Our first quarter gross margin rate rebounded from fourth quarter 2008 levels by 380 basis points but was lower than last year’s first quarter by approximately 230 basis points, primarily the result of fixed occupancy costs on a lower sales base, accounting for 180 basis points. Our first quarter merchandise margins were impacted by residual fourth quarter 2008 clearance merchandise and dropped 50 basis points below last year’s first quarter, but improved over fiscal year 2008′s margin rate by 200 basis points.
SG&A;
For the first quarter of fiscal 2009, our SG&A; costs decreased $6.2 million, or 14.2% over last year. This decrease is a result of our cost-reduction initiatives and is in line with our expectation to reduce full-year SG&A; costs by approximately $26.0 million.
Cash Flow
Our Free Cash Flow (as defined below) this quarter improved by $8.0 million to $(2.8) million as compared to $(10.8) million last year.
Balance Sheet & Liquidity
We have decreased our inventory levels by $17.9 million, or 14.5%, to $105.6 million from $123.6 million at the end of last year’s first quarter. Our total debt is lower than last year’s first quarter by $15.1 million and our credit line availability is at $30 million at the end of the first quarter.
Fiscal 2009 Outlook
Given the continued uncertainty in the economy, we continue to expect sales for the year to be approximately 10% less than last year. We expect our merchandise margins to improve 275 to 325 basis points, an increase of 50 basis points from our guidance provided in March 2009. However, as a result of the sales shortfall, our merchandise margin improvement will be partially offset by unfavorable leveraging of fixed occupancy costs of approximately 150 basis points
Shutterfly Showers Moms with New Additions to Its Baby Stationery Collection
Thursday, July 30th, 2009Business Wire, June 22, 2009
New Designs and Mommy Calling Cards Join Suite of Baby Products that
Help Announce and Celebrate a New Bundle of Joy
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Shutterfly,
Inc. (NASDAQ:SFLY), the leading Internet-based social expression and
personal publishing service, today announced an array of new arrivals â
from baby
shower invitations and birth
announcements to mommy calling cards and even a baby themed
microsite â that helps take your baby from ultrasound to ultrakid while
you capture every special moment in between.
Shutterflyâs new offerings for baby include additions to its popular
line of designer
baby stationery â flat photo and non-photo cards, printed on premium
30% post-consumer waste cardstock and paired with high quality
envelopes. In total, the newly expanded collection includes 44 baby
shower invitations, 93 birth announcements and 15 babyâs first
birthday invitations, with a select number of coordinating thank you
cards, address labels and gift tags. In addition, Shutterfly today
launches its personalized
calling cards. Great to hand out at park visits, play dates, school
functions or on the go, with more than 45 designs to choose from, moms
can include their contact information on personalized calling cards that
fit their style.
With the new baby
stationery, Shutterfly expands its relationship with popular
designers Erin Condren, Fresh Lemonade and Stacy Claire Boyd, as well as
newcomer Petit Tresor. Additionally, the Company signed an exclusive
licensing relationship with designer Stacy Claire Boyd to create a new
line of baby stationery designs and more.
Shutterfly today also announces its new baby microsite, www.shutterfly.com/baby,
which provides moms with helpful tips for photographing babies and
children, choosing the right birth announcement, creating modern baby
photo books and more
The supplier: retailers must offer value
Thursday, July 30th, 2009Grocer, August 9, 2008 by Murray Bisschop
The male deodorant category is split into two areas–body sprays and anti-perspirants. Younger men are the main purchasers of body sprays while older men buy anti-perspirants. The deodorants category is highly competitive and only true innovation drives usage; there is a direct correlation between NPD and market growth.
The biggest opportunity in the category is skincare, which has about a 14% penetration. L’Oreal and Nivea have done a good job in creating the men’s skincare category but we think our products need a more no-nonsense image