In spring 1997 Levi formed another task force -- simply to study on-line sales.
In the first two weeks, on-line sales exceeded the volume at one of the company's flagship Levi's-only stores.
By January he had sold Levi's brass on a test of on-line sales in Canada, and in 60 days the virtual store was open for business.
What has investors running for the exits is Chairman Michael Levy's expansion into Europe and on-line sales of sporting goods--just the sort of aggressive brand-building they lavishly cheered a few months ago.
Starbucks posted strong fourth quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday, beating top and bottom line estimates on growing sales and higher tickets at its stores, plus a solid international expansion and solid consumer products revenues.
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They floundered, despite identifying very good solutions for pretty impressive market needs, largely because management chose to spend almost all its attention, and resources, defending and extending its on-line ad sales created around search.
By 2007, the traditional retailers, as well nontraditional ones such as Dell Computer were collecting sales tax on-line and half of online purchases were subject to sales tax.
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There's even a line item on how much the sales and marketing division spends on stationery.
The company was in-line on profits, and beat on sales.
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The story line is based on data on mutual fund sales from the Investment Company Institute.
Hugely discounted goods at retail competed with free shipping and no sales tax from many on-line merchants.
However, Wetherspoon is the latest in a long line of leisure companies to warn on slower sales as consumers tighten their purse strings.
Target posted third quarter earnings before the bell on Wednesday beating top and bottom line expectations as sales were solid and the credit card unit improved its performance.
"Under Unreformed CAFE, the cost burdens and compliance difficulties have been imposed primarily on the full-line manufacturers who have large sales volumes at the larger and heavier end of the light-truck fleet, " the proposal reads.
Interim CEO Ross Levinsohn is seeking to raise the top line by revving up advertisement sales on Yahoo's media websites, though it is still unclear if he will remain at Yahoo's helm with a permanent title.
At the moment, only a small fraction of car buyers who bypass showrooms use the Internet: Chrysler reckons that about 1.5% of its sales last year were on-line, but it forecasts the proportion will rise to 25% within four years.
Amazon is banking on downstream sales of content to buoy its bottom line, which is something that the likes of Samsung, or for that matter even Apple, cannot rely on.
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Not surprisingly, few buyers do so, even though many states, including California, include a line on their state income tax forms for use or sales tax owed.
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Despite recent setbacks, the company that Phebe Novakovic will take over on January 1 is better positioned for the future than many of its defense-industry peers because it generates a quarter of corporate revenues from the prestigious Gulfstream business-jet line, which does not depend on the Pentagon for sales.
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He knows this because he has actual data on sales (available from Amazon) and the sales rank, and he knows how to plot a regression line in Excel.
Samsung, the market leader in smartphones, on Friday said its fourth-quarter profit surged 76% to a record high on the strength of smartphone sales, including its Galaxy S line.
Levi's U.S. sales force didn't hear of the on-line invasion until a month before the launch.
Although Super Blue Stuff is sold in 365 small independent stores and through a 200-person direct-sales force, a majority of its sales come over the toll-free line McClung broadcasts on his infomercials.
On a price-to-sales basis, the stock is trading in line with the peer group average of 2.57x.
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Suzuki was next in line with sales in China down 42.5 percent year-on-year.
His own history, coupled with the recent planned abolition of Germany's tax on capital gains from share sales, suggest that he will take an aggressive line.
Sales is instructive, even refreshing, because when money is on the line human pretense evaporates leaving only the unvarnished truth.
Friedman is mostly upbeat on the spring sales season at Banana Republic, thanks to a spruced-up line of men's blazers and a fresh lineup of women's handbags.
The circuit-breaker restrictions apply to that stock on the next day of trading as well, and short sales would stand in line behind sell orders from other traders.
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