"Staples's net drops 15%; company cuts year view"

Staples stock was down $2.25 per share when I checked it a few minutes ago.

Article by Saabira Chaudhuri on Aug 21^st, reporting for MarketWatch.com

Staples Inc.'s SPLS -13.54% fiscal second-quarter earnings slumped 15% as the office-supply giant continued to be pressured by weak sales abroad, while North American retail sales also declined.

Citing weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter, Staples lowered its view for the year, now expecting sales to decline in the low single digits and per-share earnings to be $1.21 to $1.25. Staples previously said it expected sales to rise in the low single digits from a year earlier, along with per-share earnings of $1.30 to $1.35.

Staples, the largest office-supply chain in the U.S., has seen its profit challenged by an increasingly digitized office, broad-based weakness in Europe and Australia, and greater competition from mass merchants and online sellers. However online sales recently have been a relative bright spot, a trend that continued in the latest period, with the company logging 3% growth from Staples.com sales.

"We drove online sales growth and aggressively managed expenses during the second quarter, but this progress was offset by weakness in our retail stores and international businesses," Chief Executive Ron Sargent said Wednesday.

The company reported its North American same-store sales--which exclude sales from Staples.com--fell 3%, reflecting a decline in traffic and in order size. Meanwhile, Europe same-store sales slid 6% amid lower traffic.

For the quarter ended Aug. 3, Staples posted a profit of $102.5 million, or 16 cents a share, versus a year-ago profit of $120.4 million, or 18 cents a share, a share.

Sales fell 2.2% to $5.31 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters recently expected per-share earnings of 18 cents on revenue of $5.37 billion.

Gross margin narrowed to 25.6% from 26.1%. Operating expenses fell 1.7%.

At the North American commercial segment, which sells office products and services directly to businesses, sales grew 1.3%. North American stores and online sales slipped 2.3%. Meanwhile international sales declined 8.3%.

Shares of Staples closed Tuesday at $16.84 and were inactive in recent premarket trading. The stock has risen 14% in the past three months.

AIA Architectural Billings Index (ABI) for July 2013; continues in positive territory!

 Positive Trend Continues for Architecture Billings Index

All regions and buildings sectors see increasing demand for design services

For immediate release:
Washington, D.C. – August 21, 2013 – The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) saw a jump of more than a full point last month, indicating acceleration in the growth of design activity nationally. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the July ABI score was 52.7, up from a mark of 51.6 in June. This score reflects an increase in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings).

The new projects inquiry index was 66.7, up dramatically from the reading of 62.6 the previous month. 



“There continues to be encouraging signs that the design and construction industry continues to improve,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA.  “But we also hear a wide mix of business conditions all over the country, ranging from outstanding and booming to slowly improving to flat. In fact, plenty of architecture firms are reporting very weak business conditions as well, so it is premature to declare the entire sector has entered an expansion phase.”

Key July ABI highlights:

•  • Regional averages: Northeast (54.3), South (54.2), West (51.1), Midwest (50.8)


•  • Sector index breakdown: mixed practice (56.9), commercial / industrial (54.2), multi-family residential (53.3), institutional (50.6)


•  • Project inquiries index: 66.4

The regional and sector categories are calculated as a 3-month moving average, whereas the index and inquiries are monthly numbers.

Contact: Scott Frank


202-626-7467


sfrank@aia.org

What, If Anything, Does 3D Printing Mean for PSPs?

An interesting article....

BY MARK VRUNO, WRITING FOR myprintresource.com

Applying thin plastic layers like ink, the latest digital craze has some pretty cool uses. But can it add value to your traditional, two-dimensional printing business?

READ MORE »

Gehry shares digital system for “paperless buildings”

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE “COMMENTS” THAT APPEAR BELOW THE ARTICLE; one reveals reality, the other two are just funny!

This article appeared in De Zeen Magazine on April 12, 2013

Frank Gehry has launched his studio's paperless system for sharing and collaborating on drawings as a scaled-up product for the architecture industry.

The GTeam software by Gehry's technology development and consulting company Gehry Technologies is now integrated with cloud-based storage service Box, enabling Box's customers in the fields of architecture, construction and engineering to easily access and manage blueprints, CAD files and contracts.

The paperless system was refined by Gehry's studio during the construction of New York by Gehry (pictured), the 265-metre-high apartment building completed in 2011, where sharing digital files enabled the architects and engineers working on the tower to significantly reduce the number of expensive alterations required during construction.

Box has now scaled up the software to bring it to the wider industry and allow others to benefit in the same way, according to company CEO Aaron Levie.

"I think when you can bring these tools to the masses, it really opens up innovation in an incredible way," he said.

The software was developed by Gehry's studio over the decades to eliminate the need for paper.

"My dream is to do buildings paperless. And it can be done," Gehry told technology magazine Wired. "I discovered that, using the computer, we had more information, which kept us in control and allowed us to protect the owner from a lot of waste in the process."

GTeam can incorporate files from other design software, such as Rhino and AutoCAD, and is already being used in the offices of Zaha Hadid and SOM, according to Gehry.

In a similar mood of collaboration, Dutch firm UNStudio this week announced it will relaunch in June as an "open-source architecture studio" inspired by technology start-ups, using an online platform to encourage the exchange of ideas between its own architects and those outside the company.

Gehry was recently asked to "tone down" his plans for Facebook's new Silicon Valley campus, while earlier this year a Utah congressman launched an attempt to scrap the architect's proposed Washington D.C. memorial for former president Dwight D. Eisenhower – see all architecture by Frank Gehry.

From the "Comments" section:

Gilles Normandin

Mr. Gehry ,

I am about your age, I've been in the same business as you for 50 years. I am one among other architects and designers on a two billion dollar project at McGill University Health Center (MUHC) in Montreal. It is done with a computer program call Autodesk Revit producing a 3D model. Said like that it seems fantastic, but it isn't. We are 300 hundred professionals, it is a pure utopia to think that this will solve it all. Let me tell you that I've never in my all career seen so many paper drawings!

Thanks Mr. Gehry for making us believe in utopia! It may happen one day.

TTT

Says the guy that claims "I can only use the computer to throw at somebody"

TT...

I wonder if Frank Gehry irons his clothes.

Newforma Closes Series D Funding Round

Originator and leading provider of AECO project information management software category procures additional venture capital to accelerate growth

Manchester, N.H., U.S.A.—19 August 2013—Newforma, a project information management (PIM) software company integrating people, projects and processes to transform building and infrastructure project delivery, announced today that it has closed a US$5.1 million Series D venture capital round to drive faster growth, develop new products, and expand into new geographic markets. Existing investors North Bridge Venture Partners, Kodiak Venture Partners, and Borealis Ventures all participated in the round.

“For years now, Newforma has achieved solid growth on the strength of its earnings alone,” saidRich D’Amore, managing partner of North Bridge Venture Partners. “It’s precisely because of that growth that we’re supporting this new round of Series D funding. The company has demonstrated its ability to be very capital-efficient in developing compelling products that deliver tremendous ROI for its customers, capturing a 99 percent renewal rate based on pure SaaS revenues.”

Newforma was the first software company to create a comprehensive PIM solution for architects, engineers, construction firms, and owners. Today, 1,000 organizations use Newforma products to facilitate collaboration between 500,000 project team members managing over two billion documents in more than one million projects. Newforma software is used to search project data, manage massive amounts of project email, share information securely between all of the companies working on a project, and provide a full audit trail to mitigate risk. The most recent, tenth edition of the Newforma solution supports projects that are being managed on premise, projects that are hosted in the cloud, and a suite of mobile apps for smartphones and tablets.

Newforma Chief Executive Officer Ian Howell said, “Wherever Newforma has gone – whether North America, the United Kingdom, the Middle East, or in Asia Pacific countries like Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines – AECO organizations have embraced our technology vision for project information management. Our customers value the fact that our products help them access project information and manage project delivery on-premise, in the cloud, and via mobile devices. This additional Series D funding will allow us to accelerate product delivery and expand our market presence as we continue to transform the building design and construction industry.”

About Newforma

Newforma develops, sells and supports project information management (PIM) software for architecture, engineering, and construction firms worldwide, and the owners they serve. Newforma is the first industry-focused and integrated solution to connect firms to each other, to their project information, to their processes, and to remote team members, all for the purpose of more successful project delivery. Firms in the Newforma Project Network are using Newforma software to manage information on more than one million projects, raising productivity, reducing exposure to risk, strengthening their brands, and freeing time and attention to focus on design, construction, and client service. For more information about Newforma, visit www.newforma.com, or phone +1 603-625-6212.