Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet 12/4/12: 3D Printing at Staples, Consumers open to mortgages at Walmart

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“Consumers open to putting mortgages from Wal-Mart on their shopping list” by Rick  Rouan at Columbus Business First via Reuters.  “Charlotte, N.C.-based Carlisle & Gallagher Consulting Group’s study of 618 U.S. consumers says that alternative financial services providers are threatening banks’ dominance in the lending market. The survey found that one in three consumers would get a mortgage from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and about half would be willing to finance their home purchase through eBay Inc.’s online payment subsidiary PayPal Inc.”  https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2012/12/03/consumers-open-to-putting-mortgages.html

 

“Staples Announces In-Store 3-D Printing Service” by Mike Senese at Wired.  “A new service called “Staples Easy 3D” will allow customers to upload their designs to Staples’ website, then pick up the printed objects at their local office supply megastore, or have them shipped to their home or business — not unlike the photo- and document-printing service the company already offers.  The Iris printers employ an innovative method to generate objects, using reams of paper that are cut and printed while being stacked and glued together. This technique allows for a high-resolution layer thickness of 100 microns, similar to that of the MakerBot Replicator 2, but not quite as fine as the 25-micron capability of the Form 1.”  https://www.wired.com/design/2012/11/staples-goes-3-d/

 

” Initial read on Neiman Marcus and Target holiday gift collection” by Maria Halkias at Dallas Morning News.  “Analysts this morning are starting to call the Neiman Marcus/Target holiday gift collection launch over the weekend a disappointment.  Citibank analyst Deborah Weinswig titled her report: “Don’t believe the hype: Target and Neiman Marcus Collection Disappoints.”  Here’s what Weinswig said: At the New York City Target location “we visited on December 1 for the official launch, we were disappointed by in-store execution. The collection was tucked in the back of the store, shelves were full and messy, and we saw little traffic,” Weinswig said. “We checked across the country with our network of trusted contacts and heard very similar accounts of in-store experiences.”  https://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2012/12/initial-read-on-neiman-marcus-and-target-holiday-gift-collection.html/

 

“Family Dollar names senior VP for food” by Jennifer Thomas in Charlotte Business Journal.  “Family Dollar Stores Inc. has promoted Tammy DeBoer to senior vice president for food…DeBoer joined Family Dollar in June as director of private brands. She previously was vice president and general manager for Salisbury-based Delhaize America Inc. at its grocery chain Bloom, which has been shuttered. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State University.”  https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2012/12/03/family-dollar-names-senior-vp-for-food.html

 

“Wegmans (Northborough, MA location) Closing Facebook Page with Nearly 7,500 Followers” by Charlene Arsenault in Northborough Patch.  “What triggered the final decision was a posted comment that went unnoticed for too long,” she added. “The store felt terrible and decided that if they can’t do Facebook right, meeting the high standards we set for ourselves, they’d rather not do it all. And, we support that decision.  Natale said the disappointment was expected, and some advised that Wegmans shut down the Facebook page without an announcement.  “That’s just not our style,” she said.”  https://northborough.patch.com/articles/wegmans-gets-nearly-7-500-fb-fans-closing-fb-page

 

“Tesco lost grocery market share in past quarter” in Reuters.  “Market researcher Kantar Worldpanel said Tesco’s grocery market share (in Britain) edged down to 30.7 percent in the 12 weeks to Nov.25, having been 31.0 percent in the 12 weeks to Nov. 27 last year.  Wal-Mart Stores’ Asda, Britain’s No. 2 grocer, saw its market share edge down 0.1 percent to 17.3 percent.  The big winner was No. 3 grocer J Sainsbury. Its sales rose 4.7 percent and its share rose 0.2 percent to 16.9 percent. Last month Sainsbury’s posted a 5.4 percent increase in first-half profit.  https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/04/britain-grocers-idUSL5E8N488X20121204

 

Retailers Investing More in Digital Marketing for Holidays, BDO USA Survey Finds.  “With Google reporting that four out of five consumers plan to use their mobile devices to shop this year, it’s clear that mobile marketing is becoming increasingly important. Half of the CMOs surveyed say they have included mobile in their marketing strategy, up 39 percent from 2011, but still showing that many retailers are playing catch up with the platform’s exponential growth.”  https://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsLang=en&newsId=20121203006027&div=-1245645151

 

Happening Wednesday 12/5:  Lowe’s Analyst & Investor Conference Call at 10:00 am EST.  https://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=95223&p=irol-eventDetails&EventId=4857135

 

Happening Thursday 12/6:  Apple’s Tim Cook Interviewed By NBC’s Williams (on Rock Center).  https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apples-tim-cook-interviewed-by-nbcs-williams-airs-thursday

 

 

Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet 12/3/12: Walmart alleged patent infringement, Web “up & down” pricing, Walgreens opens store #8K

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“Retail Frenzy: Prices on the Web Change Hourly” by Stephanie Clifford in The New York Times.  “Ms. Schulz said sophisticated retailers set algorithms to change prices in response to competitors. “Retailers pipe a bunch of information in electronically, like internal information — cost, availability of inventory, sales goals,” along with competitors’ prices, she said.  The software also lets retailers establish rules on the pricing of certain products: always price Furbys 5 percent below Kmart, for example, or make sure some goods are priced at an average of Amazon’s and Walmart’s prices. Generally, pricing managers also manually adjust prices.”  https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/business/online-retailers-rush-to-adjust-prices-in-real-time.html?_r=0 

 

“Home Depot turns to cat to build a brand” by Arielle Kass in the The Atlanta-Journal Constitution.  “We need to inject a little humor into the brand in the social space,” said Trish Mueller, Home Depot’s senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “There’s a lot of engagement with cats.”  If Richard is successful this holiday season, he’ll likely return for the spring, Home Depot’s busiest time of year, Mueller said.”  https://www.ajc.com/news/business/home-depot-turns-to-cat-to-build-a-brand/nTKWG/

 

Frank Blake, Home Depot CEO and Chairman, Arrives at White House for Meeting with Obama (Pictures).  https://www.zimbio.com/pictures/oH8cIRCqO6m/Business+Leaders+Meet+President+Obama+White/EbhSkrMLGnG/Frank+Blake

 

“Google Takes on Amazon, Buys Parcel Pickup Company” by Chris Taylor at Mashable (Video and Text).  “Indeed, BufferBox has one major advantage over its Amazon counterpart — you can pick up any package in its lockers, including UPS and Fedex. Part of the YCombinator startup class of 2012, the company is currently running a trial service in Canada.”  https://mashable.com/2012/11/30/google-buys-bufferbox/

 

“Wal-Mart’s Neighborhood Markets Pose Threat to Dollar Stores” by Ronald Thomas in Minyanville.  “As a retailing analyst, I know that consumers have historically reacted to pricing differentials above 5% when choosing among the same sorts of stores. As the differential approaches around 8% however, it can cause some really important market share shifts. Indeed, we have seen Kroger gain significant market share from other chains such as Safeway and Supervalu, with prices that I believe have averaged about 6-8% below traditional chains. As an aside, it seems very possible that Supervalu may see bankruptcy based on its years of being priced about 8% above most of its competition.”  https://www.minyanville.com/sectors/consumer/articles/wmt-walmart-Walmart-Express-dollar-stores/11/30/2012/id/46223

 

“Supervalu’s Fundamentals Continue to Deteriorate” by Michael Keara at Morningstar.  “Same-store sales and profit margins at Supervalu’s core supermarkets are in a free-fall and are also declining at the company’s hard-discount Save-A-Lot format. We don’t see fundamentals improving at either segment anytime soon, given that Wal-Mart is accelerating the rollout of its small-format Neighborhood Market stores, a major competitive threat to both segments. Moreover, Target now sells groceries at nearly all of its units, and all the dollar stores we cover are expanding square footage roughly around 7%, while increasingly using food as a loss-leader category to drive customer traffic.”  https://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=576253

 

Score one for the little guy…..“Family Business Took on Walmart Over Alleged Patent Infringement”  by Patrick Healy at News4 Southern California (Video).  The Rosenes and Bartoli acknowledge they had previously approached Walmart about bundling a Solar Sun Ring with a small children’s play pool, but no agreement was reached.  Walmart expressed interest in selling the Ring as a stand-alone product, according to the family. But they said they declined out of concern that would gut sales through their original retail network of small pool supply stores.  The family contends that is in fact what happened when the Solar Pad came on the market.”  https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Family-Business-Took-on-Walmart-Over-Alleged-Patent-Infringement-181701451.html

 

“Sears CEO checking on retailer’s comeback (in Canada)” by Murray McNeil in Winnipeg Free Press.  “The retail landscape is about to become even more competitive when Walmart’s biggest competitor south of the border, Target Corp., begins opening its new Canadian stores in March and April next year.  McDonald acknowledged Target’s arrival is going to turn up the heat on Sears. But he insisted the changes now underway would have happened even if Target wasn’t entering the picture.  He said the changes are already having a positive impact on the company’s bottom line. Although it’s still bleeding red, it was able to cut its net loss in half in the third quarter this year.  https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/sears-ceo-checking-on-retailers-comeback-181652701.html

 

“PetSmart: A Stealth Housing Stock?” by Justin Menza at CNBC.  “”There’s a high correlation to housing and pet acquisition,” PetSmart CEO Robert Moran told CNBC this week. In addition to spending more money at Lowe’s and Home Depot , people tend to get a cat or dog after buying a new home.  “Right now about 62 percent of households, which equates to 73 million households, have pets. We believe we’re incredibly well positioned if there’s any type of housing recovery to take advantage of this.”  https://pub.cnbc.com/id/50012993

 

Walgreen’s Opens Store Number 8,000.  “We are thrilled to locate our milestone 8,000th store and latest flagship store at such a famous intersection as we bring a format unlike any traditional drugstore to the Hollywood community,” said Joe Magnacca, Walgreens president of daily living products and solutions. “Walgreens aims to be America’s first choice for health and daily living, and we look forward to providing an exceptional experience for our customers as we help them get, stay and live well.”  https://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsLang=en&newsId=20121130005231&div=-1245645151