"Costco September Same-Store Sales Climb 3% but Q4 Profit Up Only 1%" by Jessica Wohl at Reuters.  "Analysts had expected September same-store sales to rise 3.7 percent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.  Fourth-quarter net sales rose 1 percent to $31.77 billion."  Read more   "Costco's Announces Q4/September/52 Week Earnings and Sales"  Read Company Release   "Family Dollar Reports Record Sales and Earnings Results"  "Total net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 increased 5.8% to $2.5 billion compared with total net sales of $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. Comparable store sales in the quarter [...]

  "Two-Thirds of $150K+ Households Shop at Dollar Stores"  "Dollar stores are popping up all over the US, but it's not just discount shoppers taking advantage of these discount prices. According to new research from Mintel, just under one-third (32%) of respondents from the highest-income households ($150k+) claim not to shop at dollar stores, and half (50%) in this income group say that they are shopping at dollar stores the same amount this year compared to last year."  Read more   "The Home Depot Presents 2013 Innovation Awards"  "Home Depot today announced that Cree won the retailer's 2013 Innovation Award [...]

  "Walmart's CMO: Chief Marketing Officers should be Chief Innovation Officers" by Jack Neff at Ad Age.  "Walmart allocates marketing staff on a 70-20-10 ratio, with 70% working on "Now," or the things that drive the giant retailer's business today; 20% focusing on what's "New," such as a Facebook following of 34 million; and 10% focused on what's "Next."  It's not always easy, Mr. Quinn said, to protect the "next" from the "now."  Read more   "Dollar General Opens 11,000th Store"  "Dollar General Corporation today opened its 11,000th store, further distinguishing itself as the retailer with the most stores in the [...]

  "Lowe's & Home Depot Prepping for Tropical Storm Karen" at WJHG-Panama City Beach.  "It's been a long time since a storm has posed a direct threat to our area.  Emergency Management officials are worried people have become complacent and won't take the Karen seriously.  Workers at Home Depot and Lowe's on Back Beach Road were busy Thursday night, stocking the shelves with hurricane supplies."  See the video / Read more   "Alabama Home Depot Ready for Karen" by Ashley Knight at WKRG News.  "It’s all hands on deck, moving crucial supplies closer to the front doors so customers won’t [...]

  "Home Depot's CFO Carol Tome Speaks at Univ. of Georgia"  Highlights: *  "Our profits are very different...appliances are very low margin...paint brushes - we make a lot of money on those - I probably shouldn't tell you that but we do." *  "Home Depot has a 35% share of power tools, but online Amazon has a higher share." *  "No better time to work with your vendor partners than when you have the #1 market share." *  "Home Depot is redefining exclusivity with our vendors" See the full video   "Target Ranked Among 25 “Most Inspiring” U.S. Cos." by [...]

"Walgreen’s quarterly profit soars 86 percent" at NY Post.  "Revenue from stores open at least a year climbed 4.6 percent in the quarter. Prescription sales, which accounted for about 64 percent of the company’s revenue, were up 6.1 percent. Revenue from the front end, or rest of the store, rising 1.6 percent."  Read more   "How Walgreen Makes Money From Healthier Shoppers" by Kyle Stock at Businessweek.  "The company now has 85 million people enrolled in its loyalty program, launched about a year ago, and boasts that it is the fastest-growing such initiative in the world.  Walgreen carefully crafted the [...]

  "Wal-Mart opens largest online fulfillment center" by Alistair Barr  at USA Today.  "The warehouse, based in Bethlehem, Pa., will be more than 1 million square feet and employ over 350 full-time staff when it opens in the first quarter of 2014. Another new online fulfillment center, based in Fort Worth, Tex., is 800,000 square feet and employs 275 full-time staff. It began shipping orders last week, Wal-Mart said."  Read more   "Home Depot tackles mobile gaming to score sales" by Lauren Johnson at Mobile Commerce Daily.  "The home improvement retailer is launching the app as part of its sponsorship [...]