Tipsheet: Sears to Speed up Closings | CVS FE -0.5% | Gap/Old Navy -6% | Wmart Exec to Asda
After challenging holiday, Sears to speed up store closings via Yahoo. “Comparable-store sales in the fourth quarter dropped 6.9 percent at Sears, and 7.2 percent at Kmart, which the also company owns…” Read more
Asda gets its new chief customer officer from Walmart at International Supermarket News. “Mr.Murray, a former P&G marketer is currently working with Walmart as its senior vice-president of creative and customer experience.” Read more
Why aren’t stores selling more clothes? Maybe we are just bored of the skinny jean. by Sarah Halzack at Washington Post. “Overall, bottoms take about 10 years to fully evolve,” said Sidney Morgan-Petro, retail editor at trend forecasting firm WGSN…By that analysis, we’re getting awfully close to the twilight of the skinny jeans moment, if we’re not in it already. And such a period can be a tough one for apparel retailers.” Read more
Back From the Brink: American Apparel Has a Marketing Budget Again by Adrianne Pasquarelli at Ad Age. “American Apparel hopes to have a marketing budget of around $500,000, though that figure is still subject to approval. In 2015, the struggling brand, which was founded in 1989, spent no money on marketing…” Read more
Kohl’s to air five commercials during its Oscars debut by Mark Kass at Milwaukee Business Journal. “(Kohl’s) also plans to broadcast two 30-second commercials to promote its newly re-launched Sonoma in-house brand in the Oscars pre-show.” Read more
**A message from ASD Market Week – ASD has the widest variety of goods anywhere! On February 28 – March 2, 2016, we open the doors of the Las Vegas Convention Center to 45,000+ attendees looking to shop the world’s widest variety of wholesale lifestyle accessories and general merchandise at the lowest price points available. Discover hot new products and stylish finds from over 2,600 vendors in categories including: fashion & accessories, beauty & fragrance, gift & home, toys & novelties and many more. Learn more about ASD / See category list | See the show floor video | Register now
CVS Growth Driven by Acquisitions, Pharmacy Services by Chelsey Dulaney at WSJ. “Sales at stores, excluding newly opened or closed locations, rose 3.5%, though front-of-store sales edged down 0.5% amid softer traffic.” Read more (subscription) Read the company press release
Walgreens will install safe medication disposal kiosks in more than 500 drugstores in 39 states and Washington, D.C “Walgreens will be joined at today’s launch, held at its Washington, D.C. flagship store, by Director of National Drug Control Policy for the White House Michael Botticelli. Also joining Director Botticelli at the launch are special guests Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.); Rep. Bob Dold, (R-Ill. 10)…” Read the release
Online retailers ship 100 million orders into China via special zones by Frank Tong at Internet Retailer. “The total product value of those parcels has topped 15.5 billion yuan,” a spokesman for Chinese customs authority General Administration of Customs of China said in a recent press meeting. ”In some cities, custom workers have worked 24 hours a day to speed up the clearance of imported products.” Read more
Old Navy Hits Deepest Sales Slump In 4 Years by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “Last month, comparable sales at Old Navy fell 6%, capping an awful quarter for both the brand and the company at large.” Read more
…January Comps: Gap -6%…Banana Republic -17%…Old Navy -6% Read the release
Lifestyle changes send dough falling at Betty Crocker, Pillsbury by Mike Hughlett at Star Tribune via Seattle Times. “There are headwinds in the (baking) category,” said Elizabeth Nordlie, vice president for baking at General Mills…“Clearly, people are making more better-for-you food choices. But I think the biggest factor in our category is that people are just busy.” Read more
Tipsheet Extra Stories
National retailer entering bankruptcy to close 70 stores
How Amazon inspired a drone delivery system for birth control in Ghana
L’Oréal’s Latest Beauty Secret: It’s Acting Like A Tech Company
Bananas May Help Detect, Cure Skin Cancer
NFL, Stanford show off the future of sports in startup competition