Archive for month: August, 2016

 

Target Severs Ties With Vendor Over Egyptian-Cotton Dispute by Shannon Pettypiece at Bloomberg. “The retailer said it discovered last month that 750,000 sheets and pillowcases labeled as Egyptian cotton were actually made with another type of cotton. The retailer pulled the items from its stores, and on Friday it began notifying customers that it will give them a refund on the products.” Read more

 

…Welspun India shares fell 20 percent, the most in a decade at Bloomberg. Read more

 

Dick’s Sporting Goods Announces Acquisition Of Affinity Sports “Affinity Sports will provide key services to various youth sports National Governing Bodies and large-scale organizations under the DICK’S Team Sports HQ platform.” Press release

 

College campuses are the next big retail battleground for Target, Amazon and more by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “…of the 32 smaller store formats Target will have opened by the end of this year, eight are near college campuses, including the University of California-Berkeley, Boston University, Penn State and the University of Chicago.” Read more

 

Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard to buy CST Brands for $3.67 billion at Reuters. “With this transaction we would strategically strengthen our positioning in both the “sun belt” and the east coast of North America,” Couche-Tard Chief Executive Brian Hannasch said in a statement.” Read more

 

Wal-Mart internships both a trial and tryout by Robbie Neiswanger at Arkansas Online. “Tess Plyler learned a valuable lesson during her 10-week internship with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Don’t leave food in the refrigerator on Fridays. It won’t be there when you return. “I didn’t know they empty out the fridge,” said Plyler, who will be a senior at the University of Arkansas this year. “So I lost some Tupperware. But I’m OK. I’ve recovered.” Read more

 

Lowe’s has closed Lowe’s Express – its experimental store it opened a little over three years ago by David P. Willis at Asbury Park Press. “It was the first of its kind, Lowe’s said at the time. And it turned out to be the only one of its kind. The store closed on Sunday night and won’t reopen, a spokesman for Mooresville, North Carolina-based Lowe’s said.” Read more

 

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NY Post: Macy’s strikes gold with Bluemercury’s growth by Lisa Fickenscher. “Bluemercury just opened its 12th store in Manhattan, where it sees a market for as many as 40 stores. “We think there is room for a Blue Mercury every 15 blocks,” said Barry Beck, comparing Bluemercury to the ubiquitous Duane Reade.” Read more

 

Chapel Hill-based gourmet food giant sells for $3.5 million by Lauren K. Ohnesorge at Triangle Business Journal. “Calvert does not plan to make any immediate changes to the Chapel Hill location, according to the announcement. But stores in Raleigh, Asheville and Charleston will close, according to Calvert.” Read more

 

Amazon Will Now Deliver A Car To Your Doorstep by Kirsten Korosec at Fortune. “This limited campaign—it’ll only be held the last two weekends in August—will give Amazon Prime subscribers living in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas a chance to order a 45- to 60-minute test drive of a 2017 Hyundai Elantra.” Read more

 

Office Depot CEO to retire; company creates COO, North America at Reuters. Read more

 

Over the weekend: Today Show features team of kids behind Target’s new back-to-school ads “Claire Jantzen, the 17-year-old director, gives TODAY’s Stephanie Ruhle the scoop…” See the 3:14 video

 

The Full Transcript Of McDonald’s CEO Interview With Fortune by Beth Kowitt at Fortune. “Fortune got the inside scoop on McDonald’s transition to serving 100% cage-free eggs within the next decade for its September cover story. The tale of what it will take, and how it could change the broader food system…” Read the interview

 

Mysterious ‘Project X’ points to Amazon drive-up grocery store in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood by Nat Levy & Todd Bishop at GeekWire. “Permit filings uncovered by GeekWire show plans to renovate the former Louie’s Cuisine of China site, at 5100 15th Ave. N.W. in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, into a 9,759-square-foot retail space where customers can pick up groceries that they’ve ordered online, in what the project team calls “a new model of grocery shopping.” Read more / See the building pic

 

Home Depot employees build custom walker for 2-year-old at Fox 4. “He started laughing and then started using his little feet to push himself backwards. I had a big smile. Everybody had a big smile, maybe a couple little tears here and there” For Jessica Johnson, the challenges of a special needs child can sometimes be overwhelming until something like this happens. “I’ve prayed for them that God could bless their families because they’ve definitely blessed ours,” said Johnson.” See the video / Read more

 

At Kimberly-Clark, ‘Dead Wood’ Workers Have Nowhere to Hide by Lauren Weber at Wall Street Journal. “One former employee said he was initially glad that the company was identifying those who weren’t pulling their weight. Then, after earning top reviews over his decadeslong career, he said he was given a low rating and placed on a performance-improvement plan after missing a project deadline. After that, “no one would talk to me” about other positions, he said.” Read more (subscription)

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Forbes: 2016 Best Companies For Developing C-Level Marketing Leaders

KFC just unveiled an absurd new product — fried-chicken scented sunscreen

Bloomingdale’s to host in-store fitness classes for annual fundraiser

Report: Lyft met with tech giants like Amazon about potential acquisition

No go for Wegmans first D.C. store

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Walmart Q2 Comp +1.6% / Sam’s Club +0.6% (ex. fuel) “Walmart: the seventh consecutive quarter of positive traffic, up 1.2%. Neighborhood Market comp sales increased approximately 6.5%.” Press release

 

…CNBC: Wal-Mart’s 2Q Earnings Top Expectations, Outlook Raised at Fox Business. “Walmart earned $1.07 a share…Analysts had expected Wal-Mart to report earnings of $1.02 a share…Wal-Mart’s online sales picked up from the first quarter, increasing 11.8 percent, but the rate of growth was slower than last year’s 16 percent lift for the comparable period.” Read more

 

MARVIN ELLISON ON CNBC – JC Penney’s CEO maps out three-year turnaround plan by Arriana McLymore at CNBC. “Ellison said. “What we do know is that a third of the customers buying appliances from us are brand new customers to JC Penney.”…Ellison said the company would also focus on expanding Sephora in store locations and its omnichannel business as a part of the three-year plan.” See the video interview / Read more

 

Best Buy celebrates 50 years with 50 hours of discounts by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “For 50 hours starting at 11 p.m. Eastern Thursday, the electronics chain will offer Black Friday-like deals on a swath of products available both online and in stores.” Read more

 

Apple’s Angela Ahrendts, Maintaining Her Low Profile, Surprises At New Store Opening by Ainsley O’Connell at Fast Company. “…For a brief quarter-hour at lunchtime, Ahrendts smiled for the cameras and took in the bustling crowds. Then, once again, she was gone.” Read more

 

Target’s traffic problems won’t be an easy fix by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “Having successfully revitalized sales in its “signature” categories of style, baby, kids and wellness, the discount retailer is now struggling to bring shoppers into its stores for two major categories that drive repeat traffic: grocery and pharmacy.” Read more

 

Inc. 5000 2016: The Full List (eLuxurySupply.com #4, taldepot.com #30) See the full list

 

Q&A with Daniel Eckert, senior vice president of Wal-Mart Services by April Berthene at Internet Retailer. “Why are there no coupons or incentives to use Walmart Pay? What we’re finding is that our customers value time saved almost as much as the money they’ve saved in our stores. The research we did with Walmart Pay found that if you just save shoppers some time, that’s benefit enough for them to see the value to want to use it.” Read the Q&A

 

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PetSmart Opens First Pet Spa Store “The store features a first for PetSmart stores, a self-service dog wash where pet parents can bond as they personally bathe their pups. Pet parents can also choose from a range of grooming services…” Press release

 

Staples Q2 Total Company Sales -4.0% Press release

 

Wal-Mart’s Open Call invitation for online suppliers isn’t without challenges by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Consultants who represented clients to Wal-Mart have told Talk Business & Politics that in the exuberance of hearing “yes” there were many details that were not made clear to the first-timers…When pressed on the issue, the retailer said merely the focus of this year’s event was to say “yes” to the online sales.” Read more

 

Target will spend $20 million to add private restrooms to stores by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “While Smith acknowledged that it’s hard to tease apart the factors that affect sales, she said executives don’t believe the issue has had a material impact on sales…” Read more

 

7-Eleven Celebrates 60,000th Store Opening Press release

 

Doug McMillon to attend Oct. 14th opening of innovation center by Alex Gorski at The Arkansas Traveler. “Some projects being worked on now include the delivery robot and an invisible digital watermark that could speed up check out times and doing inventory at retail stores…” Read more

 

J.C. Penney Might Be Walking Into the Same Private Label Trap That Kohl’s Did by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “The retailer wants private brands to be 70% of sales, up from 52% now…In 2014, Kohl’s private and exclusive collections reached a peak of about 52% of sales, way up from 30% in 2005….Kohl’s has since dialed that back down (to about 48% in 2015), with the CEO telling Fortune at the time that the focus on house brands had hurt Kohl’s reputation for national brands. (At Macy’s, it’s currently about 25%.).” Read more

 

SpartanNash Q2 Net Sales +1.8% Press release

 

CST has incentive to close sale “by Monday at the latest,” sources say by Katie Burke at San Antonio Business Journal. Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Coca-Cola moving 75 employees to downtown Cincy to be near Kroger

The Truth About Your Cotton Bedsheets Will Give You Nightmares

U.K.: Retail sales surge 1.4% in best July performance since 2002

Study: Subscribers to meal kit services spending 6% less at supermarkets than they did before using the service

McDonald’s Pulls Happy Meal Fitness Bands Due to Skin Irritation

Activist hedge fund demands shakeup at Buffalo Wild Wings

Kroger, CVS, and Walgreens settle lawsuit with West Virginia for $3 million

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Heard on the Call(s):

Target Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Brian Cornell

• In the second quarter, our number one challenge was traffic
• Electronics – we saw a double-digit decline in comp sales this quarter
  • Accounting for approximately 70 basis points of overall comp decline
  • Apple products – down more than 20% in the quarter
    • One of the first things we have had Mark Tritton do was actually spend time with our Apple partners really making sure that we are putting the right plans together for the back half of the year
• Grocery, despite improvements…we were disappointed with our sales performance as we saw a small comp sales decline
• Experienced soft second quarter traffic trends in the pharmacies in our stores as we completed the re-branding transition from Target to CVS
• We saw double-digit growth in Cat & Jack sales when measured against comparable sales of Circo and Cherokee last year
• We saw mid single-digit comp increase in women’s apparels
• Changes we have made to the food area in the LA25 test stores has really resonated with guests. Grocery sales in these stores are trending 2 to 3 percentage points higher than the comparison stores
  • Relative performance in produce is even stronger, driving perishable comps that are more than 5 percentage points higher than the comparison stores
• We have got to be rebalancing our messaging..we have got to make sure we continue to elevate our messaging, our communication around style and those core household essential categories, which include food

John Mulligan

• We have self checkout in just over 1,000 of our stores. We are planning to add it to another 200 stores by the end of the year and we will continue the rollout in 2017.
  • In stores with self checkout, nearly a third of transactions go through these lanes, much higher than our initial projections.
• At the end of 2015, more than 460 stores were shipping items directly to guest homes and we are planning to double our capacity this year by expanding this capability to more than 500 additional stores.

Cathy Smith

• Digital sales grew 16% in the second quarter
• Comp transactions declined 2.2% partially offset by a 1.1% increase in average ticket
• Q3 – we are planning for a comparable sales range of a minus 2% to flat

Read full transcript via Seeking Alpha

———————————-

Lowe’s Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Robert Niblock

• Q2: comparable sales grew 2%, driven primarily by a 1.7% increase in average ticket
• Strong performance in lumber building materials, kitchens, tools and hardware and fashion fixtures
• Positive comps in 10 of 13 product categories
• U.S. achieved 1.9% comps for the quarter, with all regions of the south and the west comping positive
• Northern regions were challenged by an abbreviated spring, which hindered outdoor activity
• Double-digit comps in Canada and Mexico in local currency
• Three categories that were down in Q2: outdoor power equipment, millwork and paint
• Pro is now approximately 30% of our total volume
• On appliances versus the industry – we actually believe we gained share in the second quarter
• The West was our best-performing area…North was our weakest…There was almost 500 basis point spread in comps between those two divisions

Michael Jones

• Achieved positive comps in 10 of 14 regions
• Our interior and exterior project specialists are now the critical element of our omni-channel strategy
• Our exterior project specialists are currently available across all U.S. home improvement stores – we’re expanding our interior project specialist program, reaching all U.S. stores by the end of this year.
• We currently have over 200 pro outside sales representatives in the field
• Q2 – we drove 27 million impressions on social media alone, and that’s on top of 32 million impressions in Q1
• We launched our new Lowes.com site…as anticipated, following the launch, we had a brief period of disruption

Bob Hull

• Comps were negative 2.8% in May, positive 5% in June and positive 3.8% in July
• There was almost a 400 basis point gap in pro comp relative to the DIY comp

Richard Maltsbarger

• Lowes.com – double-digit comp performance on the platform at 14%

Read full transcript via Seeking Alpha

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home Depot Q2 Comp Sales + 4.7% / U.S. + 5.4% “Home Depot…reported sales of $26.5 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2016, a 6.6 percent increase from the second quarter of fiscal 2015.” Press release

 

…CNBC: Home Depot matches Street, boosts full-year forecast by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “It’s a good quarter but it does not deliver the upside that we’ve seen from Home Depot over the past few quarters,” Oppenheimer senior analyst Brian Nagel told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” Read more

 

Dick’s Sporting Goods Q2 Comp Sales + 1.2% “Same store sales for DICK’S Sporting Goods increased 1.5%, against a strong base that included the World Cup. Golf Galaxy decreased 2.9%…eCommerce penetration for the second quarter of 2015 was 7.3% of total net sales, compared to 6.3% during the second quarter of 2014.” Press release

 

TJX Q2 Comp Sales + 4.0% “Net sales for the second quarter of Fiscal 2017 increased 7% to $7.9 billion…Net income for the second quarter was $562 million and diluted earnings per share were $.84, a 5% increase over the prior year’s $.80.” Press release

 

Ace Hardware Q2 Revenues + 0.6% “For the first six months of 2016, the 2.4 percent increase in retail same-store-sales reported by the approximately 3,000 Ace retailers who share daily retail sales data was primarily the result of a 2.2 percent increase in average transaction size.” Press release

 

H-E-B/Central Market make another big leap into Dallas-Fort market with purchase of six Sun Fresh Market stores by Maria Halkias at Dallas Morning News. “H-E-B  isn’t sure yet how it plans to use the stores…But still there will be speculation about whether any stores might become H-E-B or Central Market…Today, H-E-B, which dominates in the state with Wal-Mart, only has a 1.9 percent market share in the Dallas area.” Read more

 

American Apparel struggles to afford to keep calling LA home by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “The 27-year-old teen retailer, which boasts on its Web site that its togs are “Designed, Cut and Sewn in Los Angeles,” is making plans to pull up stakes and move east — possibly to North Carolina or Tennessee, where the minimum wage is $7.25.” Read more

 

As Macy’s shutters stores, what about Bloomingdale’s? by Teresa Novellino at New York Business Journal. “Women’s Wear Daily, which heard from sources that Bloomingdale’s is an asset that could be placed on the block, reports that Macy’s chief executive Terry Lundgren swiftly dismissed the idea of selling the chain. “No,” he said when asked about that possibility, according to the WWD report.“Bloomingdale’s is very valuable to us, and not just because they represent 10 percent of our business.” Read more

 

Best Buy’s stock slumps after analyst cuts rating by Tomi Kilgore at MarketWatch. “Wal-Mart increased its SKU count on 4K TVs to 9 from a few, while Target has tripled its SKU count to 15 from 5, Binder said. “[Best Buy] has above average market share in 4K TV, but will face stiffer competition this holiday season” Read more

 

‘Cajun Navy’ sets sail from Home Depot parking lot to rescue those trapped by Louisiana flooding by JR Ball at The Times-Picayune. “They call themselves the Cajun Navy, the Coonass Navy or the Brotherhood Soul Patrol. Whatever you call them, they’re an armada of volunteers who set sail in the early morning hours from the parking lot of The Home Depot store on Coursey Boulevard in Baton Rouge.” Read more

 

…Walmart and the Walmart Foundation Announce $500,000 towards Louisiana Flood Relief Efforts Press release

 

**A message from 2016 Sweets & Snacks Expo – The Most Innovative New Products winners have been announced! Winners were awarded in nine categories: chocolate, non-chocolate, sweet, salty, savory, novelty, seasonal, gourmet/premium and gum/mints. See the winners here The 2017 Sweets & Snacks Expo is nearly 90% sold out and will take place May 23-25 at Chicago’s McCormick Place – Notify me when registration opens

 

Take a peek at the $45M estate an Apple cofounder just listed by Kevin Truong at San Francisco Business Times. See the 20 pics

 

Supervalu shares rose 11 percent Monday – to become the primary supplier for The Fresh Market via Pioneer Press. Read more | Press release

 

NY Times: Their Hair Fell Out. Should the F.D.A. Have the Power to Act? by Eric Lipton & Rachel Abrams. “People don’t realize there is effectively no regulation of cosmetics,” said Representative Frank Pallone Jr., Democrat of New Jersey. He, along with Ms. Feinstein and Ms. Collins, has pushed to strengthen a 1938 law that was passed to regulate the pharmaceutical industry but contained two pages that addressed cosmetics, leaving it essentially unregulated.” Read more

 

Target to open small-format stores in S.F.’s Stonestown Galleria and East Palo Alto

 

Patagonia’s CEO Explains How To Make On-Site Child Care Pay For Itself by Rose Marcario at Fast Company. Read more

 

Container Store to open first Pittsburgh store by Paul J. Gough at Pittsburgh Business Times. Read more

 

Mom throws Target-themed birthday party for son, 7, at store by Geoff Herbert at Syracuse.com. “She…asked if kids could play with the registers, and sought a Bullseye the Dog costume but got a “no”…However, she was allowed to invite friends and family to celebrate in the cafe area, complete with a homemade cake in the shape of the canine mascot, cupcakes with the bullseye logo, red-and-white balloons and coloring pages with crayons.” See the party pics / Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

4-year-old hospitalized after hit by falling pallet in Sam’s Club

Restaurant slammed for ‘black olives matter’ merchandise

Police hunt for woman who poured bleach on a shopper and little girl at a Target

Walmart employee bit by monkey in store parking lot

Minnesota Cup names 25 finalists for “breakthrough business ideas”

Canada: Manitoba government hints at expanding Sunday shopping past 6 p.m.

Judge rules professor falsely imprisoned at Canadian Tire

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JCPenney Q2 Comp Sales +2.2% “Marvin R. Ellison: “We exceeded our profitability expectations, achieving an $85 million or 59% increase in EBITDA to $229 million for the quarter.” Press release

 

The Street: JCPenney Is Crushing Every Other Department Store Known to Man by Brian Sozzi. “JCPenney executives will likely enter a summer weekend all smiles…” Read more

 

CNBC: JCPenney reports a smaller-than-expected loss but revenues fall just shy of expectations Read more

 

Amazon Exec Jumps to Under Armour by Ryan Sharrow at Baltimore Business Journal. “Under Armour has named Andy Donkin, head of worldwide mass and brand marketing at Amazon, as chief marketing officer.” Read more

 

Gander Mountain hires former Sports Authority chief marketing officer by Nick Halter at Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal. “Ron Stoupa is joining the outdoor retailer as senior vice president of marketing and e-commerce..Stoupa was also chief marketing officer for Pep Boys and director of marketing for Bass Pro Shops.” Read more

 

Walmart’s Food Lab – What’s Next by Anne D’Innocenzio at AP via Ledger-Enquirer. “Wal-Mart is testing frozen stuffed doughnut bites as well as new flavors for its Clear American Ice store brand sparkling water and Paleo meals that are vacuum-packed. The Clear American Ice pineapple-orange flavor arrives in stores in September. The Paleo meals and the doughnut bites will be in the stores in October.” Read more

 

**A message from 2016 Sweets & Snacks Expo – The Most Innovative New Products winners have been announced! Winners were awarded in nine categories: chocolate, non-chocolate, sweet, salty, savory, novelty, seasonal, gourmet/premium and gum/mints. See the winners here The 2017 Sweets & Snacks Expo is nearly 90% sold out and will take place May 23-25 at Chicago’s McCormick Place – Notify me when registration opens

 

Designers Toast Saks Fifth Avenue Terrace Opening by Kristen Tauer at WWD. “The retailer just opened its terrace at the flagship location on 5th Avenue to the public, a seasonal extension of the retailer’s Café SFA. On a muggy Wednesday night, Saks’ Marc Metrick, Tracy Margolies, and Roopal Patel welcomed a slew of designers — Keren Craig, Brandon Maxwell, Prabal Gurung, Adam Lippes — to show off the new space.” See the 11 terrace pics / Read more

 

Macy’s CEO: Jet.com is Wal-Mart’s way to stand out from the crowd by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “Lundgren likened Wal-Mart’s strategy to his company’s push for exclusive merchandise that shoppers can’t find elsewhere. It snags these one-offs by leaning on its scale and partnerships with vendors, Lundgren said.” Read more / See the video

 

Being Barneys: The Man Who Decides What You’ll Wear Next Year by Rachel Felder at The Daily Beast. “A fashion director for Barneys for almost four decades, Tom Kalendarian talks about what he thinks men will be buying this fall, from slouchy sportswear to sleek suits.” Read more

 

Hudson’s Bay Q2 Comp Sales +1.9% Press release

 

Target Interns Inspire Back-to-College Product Designs at A Bullseye View. “At the end of the day, this talented group of interns created more than 200 prints, patterns and designs—and their work showed up as motifs, mood boards and other resources our PD&D team used to create our newest back-to-college collections of bedding, wall art, tapestries, shower curtains and more.” See the examples / Read more

 

Dillard’s Q2 Comp Sales -5.0% Press release

 

Nordstrom Q2 Comp: Full-Line/Dotcom – 2.3% / Rack +5.3% Press release

 

Nordstrom’s Stock Spikes As Retailer Boosts Outlook at Fox Business. “Shares, which in June set a nearly six-year low, surged 11% to $52.91 in after-hours trading.” Read more

 

CVS Pharmacy Launches End-to-End Mobile Payment Experience “CVS Pay is currently available in select markets, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware and a nationwide rollout is expected to kick off later this year.” Press release

 

Nearly 44,000 retail workers have been laid off in 2016 by Paul R. La Monica at CNN Money. Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Artfully Inspired: Local Masterpieces You’ll Only See In Target Stores

AdBlock Plus Already Has a Workaround for Facebook’s Restrictions

Aritzia’s roomy ‘gathering places’ thrive in a tough Canadian retail space

Hasbro CEO joins Gap Board

Walton Foundation, Walmart to support to new secondary school in downtown Bentonville

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