"Amazon, Postal Service Start to Implement Sunday Delivery across the U.S.; mid-March Launch in St. Louis" by Kavita Kumar at St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  "Packages (will) be delivered from about 15 hubs in the St. Louis region, with a goal of each carrier’s delivering about 12 parcels an hour. The estimated volume for St. Louis area ZIP codes is more than 7,000 packages for Sunday delivery...“It’s a big, big deal,” Long said. “...it’s just another incremental loss for brick and mortar."  Read more   "Amazon to deliver on Sundays in St. Louis" at Fox 2 TV in St. Louis.  See the [...]

  "Target's 4Q profit falls 46% after breach, Canada expansion" by Jennifer Bjorhus at Star-Tribune.  "Bottom line, results and outlook were not good,” Binder said. “But expectations were worse.”  There was legitimate good news in Target’s earnings, Binder said: U.S. sales continue recovering from the hit of the breach, use of Target’s Redcard continues to climb and the company cut stock buybacks but didn’t eliminate them altogether, as feared."  Read more   "Fortune:  World's Most Admired Companies 2014 (Amazon #2, Costco #12, Target #29, Home Depot #40...)"  See the Top 50 List   "Sam's Club Quietly Tests Online Subscription Service [...]

  "Target Q4 Same-Store Sales Down 2.5% in U.S."  "In fourth quarter 2013, sales decreased 6.6 percent to $20.9 billion from $22.4 billion last year, reflecting the impact of an additional accounting week in 20125 and a 2.5 percent decrease in comparable sales, partially offset by the contribution from new stores."  Read the release   "Target posts earnings of 81 cents a share vs. 79 cents a share estimate" at CNBC.  "Revenue slipped to $21.52 billion from $22.73 billion a year ago.  Analysts had expected Target to report earnings of 79 cents a share on $21.45 billion in revenue, according [...]

  "Home Depot's Q4 Same-Store Sales Up 4.9% in U.S.; Up 7.5% for Year (Strongest in 14 Years)"  "The Home Depot today reported that comparable store sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 increased 4.4 percent, and comp sales for U.S. stores were positive 4.9 percent.  Total sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 were $17.7 billion, a 3.0 percent decrease from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012."  Read the release   CNBC's take:  "Home Depot 4Q mixed, boosts quarterly dividend"  "Home Depot's fiscal fourth-quarter net income dipped 1 percent, hampered by bad winter weather and one less [...]

  "Brandirectory:  The World's 500 Most Valuable Brands (Walmart #9, Home Depot #25, Target #56...)"  See the Top 500 list   "Walmart and The Container Store Have Something Surprising In Common (But Walmart doesn't Get the Love)" by Laura Heller at Forbes. "No one seemed to question The Container Store’s motives or accuse stores of not paying enough to keep employees from need. The opposite was true of that one program at the single Walmart store.  Same sentiment, different reaction." Read more   "Target to take aim at slumping Canadian sales" by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail.  "Perry Caicco, retail [...]

  "Walmart tamps down Dollar Store acquisition talk, says its smaller stores bring in 4-7 times the sales of a Dollar Store" by Shelly Banjo at WSJ via Yahoo.  "Many of the dollar stores aren't equipped with gas stations, pharmacies or the ability to sell fresh and frozen food. "We would have to pay a premium for locations that aren't perfect and plow cash into retrofitting," Bill Simon said.  Wal-Mart's smaller stores bring in anywhere from four to seven times the sales that dollar stores do, he said, so "we're able to build the sales with fewer physical footprints."  Read [...]

  "Breaking:  Walmart Q4 US Comp Sales Down .4%;  Accelerating Express Store Rollout"  "We’re also pleased with how well the 20 Express stores are doing, and we’re expanding our pilot beyond the initial three markets....We will now open between 270 and 300 small format units this year, which will nearly double our fleet and fuel growth as we enter the next generation of retail (Bill Simon)."  Read more   "Walmart Mexico Cracks Code for Speedy, Same-Day Grocery Delivery" by Amy Guthrie and Shelly Banjo at WSJ.  "Mexico, one of Wal-Mart’s largest foreign markets, provides $27 billion in annual sales and [...]

  "The Inside Account of How Target Executives Responded to Cybertheft" by Monica Langley at WSJ.  "How Target executives responded to one of the biggest challenges in the company's history is based on interviews with Mr. Steinhafel, Mr. Jones, Chief Financial Officer John Mulligan and other top executives...Mr. Steinhafel's days have been especially hectic since the crisis began. One day earlier this month, he hit the gym at Target's headquarters at 4:30 a.m. for a high-intensity P90X cross-training workout. Later, he reviewed loss leaders (including 24-set crayon boxes) for next-fall's "back-to-school" season, then sneaked into a Target store for an [...]