discount stores

Next week brings more earnings reports from big-name companies, including several home improvement giants, a couple of "good enough" computer makers, penny-pinching discount masters, and office supplier Staples -- whose results might stand as an indication of the broader economy's health.

Men, who have endured slightly higher unemployment rates than women, have been taking on more of the household shopping, according to a recent report. The trend hasn't boded well for stores: On average, men spend less than women on each trip.

Dollar General announced Monday morning that its 2011 expansion plan to open 625 new stores will allow it to hire 6,000 workers this year. The discount retailer plans to add stores in markets across its existing 35-state operating area, as well as in three new states: Connecticut, Nevada and New Hampshire.

The TJX Companies announced Friday that it was shutting down its A.J. Wright brand, converting 91 of its 162 stores to those of its other brands -- T.J. Maxx, Marshalls or HomeGoods -- and closing the rest. The move will eliminate 4,400 jobs, about half of them part-time positions.

Thrifty shoppers looking for low prices on basics are frequently passing up the big boxes of Walmart for the tighter aisles of their local dollar stores. The cheaper upstarts have replaced no-name products with nationally known brands and revamped their interiors to lure in a new crop of bargain hungry customers.

We started with Citi Investment Research's top global retail picks for an "hourglass" recovery (benefiting retailers on the high and low ends). After drilling down into the fundamentals and valuations, here are our five favorites.

Retail stocks tend to rise ahead of other sectors in the early stages of an economic recovery, and so far, following a familiar pattern, both up-market and discount chains have benefited at the expense of middle-market players. So is it time to buy stock in wholesale clubs?

Target Corp. will open its first smaller, "urban" store in Seattle in 2012, marking attempts by the second-largest U.S. discount store chain to boost business by expanding beyond its largely suburban customer base.

Discount retailer Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (FDO) said profit in the third quarter of fiscal 2010 rose 19% from a year earlier. Net income was $104.4 million, or 77 cents per diluted share, for the quarter. Sales for the quarter gained 8.4% to $1.997 billion, with comparable store sales rising...

The deep-discount chain is one of the most ignored stocks in retailing. Investors who pay no attention, however, are missing a company in the midst of a strong turnaround -- and with solid prospects for coming years.