Walmart U.S. comp sales +1.4% / traffic increase of 1.5% / digital sales +63% Press release   ...CNBC: Wal-Mart earnings top Street estimates "Earnings per share: $1.00, excluding items, vs. expectations for 96 cents, according to Thomson Reuters analysts. Revenue: $117.5 billion vs. a forecast of $117.74 billion...Comp sales (climbed) 1.4 percent compared to a FactSet estimate of 1.3 percent growth." Read more   LinkedIn Top Companies 2017: Where the world wants to work now (Amazon #2, Under Armour #16, Nordstrom #50) Top 50 list   Lowe's Acquires Maintenance Supply Headquarters "...for a total transaction value of $512 million. Based [...]

  Target Q1 Comp Sales -1.3% "...driven by small declines in both traffic and basket size. Comparable digital channel sales increased 22 percent, on top of 23 percent growth in first quarter 2016." Press release   ...CNBC: Comp sales: 1.3% drop vs. forecast of a 3.7% decline, according to FactSet. Read more   ...Reuters: Target's profit and sales beat estimates, shares jump "...rise in demand for swimwear, electronics such as the Nintendo Switch gaming console, and also celebrity-endorsed products such as those from Victoria Beckham...Excluding items, the company earned a profit of $1.21 per share. Revenue fell 1.1 percent to [...]

  Home Depot Q1 Comp Sales +5.5% / US +6.0% "Based on its year-to-date performance, the Company reaffirmed its fiscal 2017 sales growth guidance and expects sales will be up approximately 4.6 percent and comp sales will be up approximately 4.6 percent." Press release   ...CNBC: Home Depot earnings, sales top Street estimates as shoppers flock to its stores "Home Depot said U.S. comparable sales...climbed a whopping 6 percent during the first quarter, blowing past a 4.3 percent estimate compiled by analysts who cover the company." Read more   Dick's Q1 Comp Sales +2.4% "eCommerce sales increased 11.0%. eCommerce penetration for [...]

  Dick’s Sporting Goods corrects $23 million accounting error by Daniel Moore at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Friday’s corrected filing showed Dick’s adjusted EBITDA — rose 4 percent for the year, rather than 7 percent. During the fourth quarter, that figure rose 11 percent, not the 19 percent the company reported in March. The impairment charges related primarily to the closure of 10 Golf Galaxy stores that overlapped with sales areas of former Golfsmith stores." Read more   Walgreens' store of the future now in very sorry shape by Lewis Lazare at Chicago Business Journal. "...shelves that used to overflow with fresh-baked [...]

  JCPenney Q1 Comp Sales -3.5% (vs. forecast -0.6%) "Home, Sephora, Fine Jewelry and Salon all comped positively, and were the Company's top performing divisions during the quarter." Press release   ...CNBC: JC Penney's stock tanks on widening net loss, weaker sales traffic "While February was a very challenging month for JCPenney and broader retail, we are pleased with our comp store sales for the combined March and April period, which improved significantly versus February," CEO Marvin Ellison said in a statement." Read more   Nordstrom Q1 Comp Sales -0.8% "Online sales were 24 percent of total net sales, driven by [...]

  Kohl's Q1 Comp Sales -2.7% "Kevin Mansell, Kohl's chairman, chief executive officer and president, said, "We are encouraged by the significant improvement in sales and traffic for the March and April period, after a weak February start to the first quarter." Press release   ...Fox Business: Kohl's Posts Higher Profit as Store Traffic Improves "Kohl's reported a 14 percent jump in adjusted quarterly profit, helped by higher traffic in stores in March and April and as a leaner inventory helped it discount less." Read more   Macy's Q1 comp sales: owned basis down 5.2%; down 4.6% on an owned plus [...]

  JET.COM OPENS FIRST STORE - A concept store called "Story" will open its doors on Wednesday to a temporary location in New York City for Jet to sell fresh groceries by Lindsay Rittenhouse at The Street. "Jet will sell its grocery items - including fresh produce, ingredients and culinary merchandise - at the store for six weeks. Workshops and cooking classes will also be held at the store throughout the display period." Read more | CNBC story   How Amazon’s Bot Army Is Trouncing Walmart in E-Commerce Wars via Fortune. "Earlier this year, engineers at Walmart Stores who track rivals' prices [...]

  60 DAY COUNTDOWN - Walgreens, Rite Aid To Certify Compliance, Forcing FTC's Hand On Merger by Bruce Japsen at Forbes. "Walgreens Boots Alliance officially set in motion a clock designed to force the Federal Trade Commission to make a decision on its purchase of Rite Aid in 60 days." Read more | Press release   NorthStar Asset Management not happy that all of the top executives at TJX are white men by Jeff Green & Lindsey Rupp at Bloomberg. "TJX’s primary customer base is likely represented by the store workers and the store management, rather than what you see in [...]