Tipsheet: Sam’s #1 Pharmacy | Kohl’s Hearts Amazon | HD Supply +5.4% | Fred’s -0.3%

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HD Supply Q2 net sales +5.4% “Preliminary Net sales in August were approximately $435 million, which represents year-over-year average daily sales growth of approximately 6.7 percent.” Press release

 

Fred’s Q2 comp sales -0.3% “Net sales for the second quarter were $507.8 million, down 4.1% from $529.5 million in the same period last year.” Press release

 

At Home Group Q2 comp sales +7.8% “Net sales increased 23.2% to $232.1 million from $188.4 million in the quarter ended July 30, 2016 driven by the net addition of 21 stores since the second quarter of fiscal 2017.” Press release

 

Casey’s Q2 grocery/merchandise comp sales +3.1% “Fiscal 2018 Guidance – Based on the ongoing softening of traffic experienced in the first quarter, the Company is revising its prepared food and fountain same-store sales guidance to 4.0% to 6.0% from 5.0% to 7.0%.” Press release

 

Duluth Trading Company Q2 net sales +31% “The net sales increase was driven by a 7.1% growth in direct net sales and a 138.3% growth in retail net sales…The increase in retail net sales was primarily attributable to an increase of 12 stores in the second quarter of 2017 as compared to the same period a year ago.” Press release

 

HBC Q2 retail sales increased 1.2% to $3.3 billion “Comparable sales at Saks Fifth Avenue grew the most in more than two years, up 1.7% on a constant currency basis.” Press release

 

…Neiman Marcus’ first Manhattan store and other shops in Hudson Yards delayed to 2019 by Maria Halkias at Dallas Morning News. “Related Companies, the developer of Hudson Yards, a huge 18-million-square-foot mostly office and residential project that is transforming the West Side of Manhattan, has pushed back the opening date of the Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards from late 2018 to early 2019.” Read more

 

J.D. Power: Sam’s Club is top mass pharmacy (Costco #3, CVS/inside Target #5) List/Press release

 

Automation Kills Jobs in Retail—and Replaces Them With Better Ones by Greg Ip at Wall Street Journal. “Ms. Duperre earns $2 more per hour at Amazon than at Sam’s, in part because she’s a lot more productive. At Sam’s, she served perhaps one to 20 customers a day. At Amazon, she packs 75 to 120 boxes an hour that are then whisked via high-speed automated conveyor belts to fleets of trucks that fan out across the region. The work is more physically demanding, but Ms. Duperre, 54, sees a bright side. “I lost 25 pounds working here,” she says. “This is a free gym membership.” Read more (subs.)

 

BJ’s unveils websites showcasing its two exclusive brands – Berkley Jensen and Wellsley Farms Press release

 

Kohl’s Announces New Amazon Smart Home Experience at Kohl’s Stores “Kohl’s announced a new Amazon smart home experience will be available in 10 select Kohl’s stores across the Los Angeles and Chicago areas starting in October. The new Amazon smart home spaces are a first-of-its-kind experience where customers can purchase Amazon devices, accessories and smart home devices and services directly from Amazon, within select Kohl’s stores.” Press release

 

Wal-Mart hopes to win this holiday season with exclusive toys, layaway by Lauren Thomas at CNBC. “In total, Wal-Mart said it will offer more than 1,000 new toys, including more than 300 exclusives. Last year, retail rival Target unveiled 1,800 exclusive toys — up 15 percent from 2015, and the most it had ever had.” Read more

 

Former Wayfair CFO joins Cambridge bike-sharing company by Kelly J. O’Brien at Boston Business Journal. “Zagster Inc., a Cambridge bike-sharing company, has named Nicholas Maloneas its chief financial officer.” Read more

 

Kroger Announces Retirement of Jayne Homco, Promotes Scott Hays to Michigan Division President Press release

 

Amazon’s Treasure Truck will be dispensing deals in five more cities by Kurt Schlosser at GeekWire. “The tech giant announced Tuesday with a surprise tweet that five more cities will now be home to the quirky deals-on-wheels trucks, including San Diego, Minneapolis, Boston, Orlando and Miami.” Read more

 

Amazon launches African-American movie subscription service via Markets Insider. “The Brown Sugar website tagline describes itself as “a black explosion of hot chicks, cool cats and cult classics”. Its portfolio of movies include “Blacula”, “Black Caesar”, “Cotton Comes to Harlem” and “Foxy Brown”, among others.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Pamela Anderson ambushes Canada Goose employees with surprise plea

Crash tests suggest potential safety issues for small trucks

Fashion giants ban size zero models

American Express Hunts Millennials With No-Fee Delta Credit Card

Pumpkin season is officially here, but excitement may be slowing

More retailers are asking their bankers to call Amazon’s Jeff Bezos

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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Eye on Retail Tipsheet is must-read material for 20,000+ retail execs every weekday morning. Tipsheet stories are carefully curated bright and early every morning to ensure fresh and unique content.

 

Subscribe to Eye on Retail Tipsheet here

 

Contact us: Send story tips, press releases and advertising inquiries to info@eyeonretail.net

 

Website: www.eyeonretail.net

Tipsheet: Target Officer Departs | Ruby Choc. for VDay | Fake Handbag Detector

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South Florida stores order drinking water, hurricane supplies as jittery locals empty shelves at Miami Herald. “Monday, shoppers said they were hitting stores early to beat last-minute crowds that generally flood stores just before a storm is expected. Some stores were able to keep pace with the surge of early birds. At a Publix in Miami’s Morningside neighborhood, shelves still held ample supplies of bottled water at midafternoon, and workers were refilling them through the day.” Read more

 

Fear of Amazon Pushes Blackstone to Call Off Major Shopping Mall Sale via Fortune. “Blackstone Group has called off the sale of its A$3.5 billion ($2.8 billion) Australian shopping mall portfolio, a source said, as the looming arrival of Amazon spooks buyers of bricks-and-mortar stores.” Read more

 

Target’s chief risk and compliance officer is leaving by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “Target Corp.’s chief risk and compliance officer, Jackie Rice, one of a number of leaders hired in the wake of the retailer’s 2013 data breach, is leaving the company. Target said Rice made a “personal decision to leave Target to be closer to her family who live outside Minnesota.” Rice’s team of about 60 people will report directly to chief legal officer Don Liu, who has a background in risk compliance. The company does not plan to replace her.” Read more (tiered subs.)

 

HBC pushes further into Europe, despite industry and investor pressure by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. “On Tuesday, Canada’s oldest retailer will open the first of 10 Hudson’s Bay stores starting up in 2017 in the Netherlands, “where the exodus of other players left a major vacuum between the highest-end players and the discount chains,” according to HBC chief executive Jerry Storch.” Read more

 

Lego Cuts 1,400 Jobs as Sales Slump on Weak ‘Batman’ Demand by Christian Wienberg at Bloomberg. “The company said it would reduce its workforce by 8 percent after a decade of rapid expansion more than doubled it to the current level of about 18,200.” Read more

 

Amazon’s AbeBooks rare books and collectibles site back online after 2-day outage by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. “An AbeBooks spokesman confirmed Sunday morning that it was “a full outage caused by a hardware issue.” Read more

 

**A message from Alma Italy – Enjoy the innovative, yet simple elegance of Alma Cookware. Made in Italy, professional grade non-stick aluminum cookware products. Featuring La Sughiera – the thick-tempered glass lid with upper hole allows for spice-adding and stirring without removing the lid. Website | Italy-America new product pipeline | Retailers request samples at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net

 

Lululemon CEO: Talk of athleisure slowdown is a ‘misinterpretation’ by Angelica LaVito at CNBC. “I mean, I was in Europe a couple weeks ago, I’m going to Asia in three weeks, and we see more and more people wanting to live an athletic lifestyle.” Read more/Video

 

Bricks-and-mortar stores are still a sweet spot for See’s Candies at LA Times via Omaha Herald. “Q: When are your peak seasons? A: Eighty percent of our sales occur in the six-week period before Christmas, the two-week period before Valentine’s Day and the three- or four-week period before Easter.” Interview w/CEO

 

Target Apologizes for Cancelling Orders to Israel at The Jerusalem Post. “Target said it was overwhelmed by the high demand of Israeli consumers after the Borderfree shipping company offered free shipping to Israel on orders made Aug. 18-20. The orders were to be delivered by DHL.” Read more

 

This Gadget Tells You If Your Handbag Is a Fake by Pavel Alpeyev at Bloomberg. “Entrupy’s solution is a handheld microscope camera that lets anyone with a smartphone check a luxury accessory within minutes. Since launching the service a year ago, the company says its accuracy has improved to better than 98 percent for 11 brands including Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Gucci.” Read more

 

European Mall Landlords Coping With Online Competition Better Than U.S. Owners by Esther Fung at Wall Street Journal. “The main reason that analysts cite is Europe, with its more densely-occupied markets, didn’t experience the retail development boomthat the U.S. did in the 30 years leading up to the 2008 crash. In the U.S., there’s 24 square feet of retail space for every man, woman and child compared with five square feet in the U.K., four in France, and three in Spain and Italy, according to data from the International Council of Shopping Centers.” Read more (subs.)

 

Chocolate Gets First Addition to Color Palette in 80 Years: Ruby at Bloomberg. “As Hershey cuts 15 percent of its staff and Nestle tries to sell its U.S. chocolate business, ruby chocolate raises the possibility that next Valentine’s Day may arrive with store shelves full of natural pink chocolate hearts.” Read more

 

More than half in UK are non-religious, suggests survey at BBC. “Among those aged between 18 and 25, the proportion was higher at 71%…When the national centre’s British Social Attitudes survey began in 1983, 31% of respondents said they had no religion.” Read more

 

Canada emerges as a tough negotiator in Nafta talks at Fox Business. Read more

 

Wary of robots taking jobs, Hawaii toys with guaranteed pay at CBS News. “Hawaii state lawmakers have voted to explore the idea of a universal basic income in light of research suggesting that a majority of waiter, cook and building cleaning jobs…will eventually be replaced by machines.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Here’s How Corn Makes America Go Round

Anti-visitor sentiment sweeps some of Europe’s most popular destinations

Juicero, the $700 juicer startup, is looking for a buyer — and shutting down in the meantime

Google reveals the top things people want to find out ‘How to’ do

JetBlue Is Selling Kitschy ‘Office Souvenirs’ for Workaholics Who Never Take a Vacation

Amazon promises NFL advertisers it will track if their ads get people to buy things on Amazon

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

***

Eye on Retail Tipsheet is must-read material for 20,000+ retail execs every weekday morning. Tipsheet stories are carefully curated bright and early every morning to ensure fresh and unique content.

 

Subscribe to Eye on Retail Tipsheet here

 

Contact us: Send story tips, press releases and advertising inquiries to info@eyeonretail.net

 

Website: www.eyeonretail.net

Tipsheet: “No Target in OB” | WM Moves 130 Claims Jobs | Barnes Buyout? | F.Dollar’s ‘White Trash’ Sticker

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Ocean Beach residents rally against proposed Target Express by Abbey Gibb at Fox 5. “A few dozen protesters marched down Newport Avenue holding signs that read “No Target in OB.” “It would ruin the OB vibe and bring corporate greed into the town we love,” one protester said. “Although there’s not much we can do to stop them, we don’t have to like it.” Video/Read more

 

Lululemon Soars After Shrugging Off Athletic-Industry Woes by Lindsey Rupp at Bloomberg. “Total comparable sales grew 7 percent in second quarter. Company on track for $4 billion in revenue by 2020, CEO says.” Read more | Press release

 

Walmart Is Selling Trump’s $40 USA Hats for $9.99 by Judy Kurtz at The Hill. “The hat, emblazoned with “USA” and available in three colors, is described on Walmart’s website as a “USA Trump hat” and sells for $10. Similar “45th Presidential Hats” will set buyers back $40 on Trump’s official online campaign store.” Read more

 

Behind a $13 shirt, a $6-an-hour worker by Natalie Kitroeff & Victoria Kim at LA Times. “She spent 11 hours a day there, pinning Forever 21 tags on trendy little shirts and snipping away their loose threads in the one-room workshop. On a good day, the 44-year-old could get through 700 shirts. That work earned Ulloa about $6 an hour, well below minimum wage in Los Angeles, according to a wage claim she filed with the state.” Read more

 

As Sears Canada head scrambles to launch bid, wife’s role in company raises questions by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. “Everybody thought that (Jennifer Stranzl’s) being there was wrong, and everybody thought it was interfering with the ability of the merchants to make decisions to grow the business,” said a former Sears executive who worked for the company throughout Stranzl’s tenure.” Read more

 

Fred’s August comp sales -0.5% Press release

 

Wal-Mart to move 130 claims jobs from Oklahoma to NW Arkansas by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “The impact of these jobs to Northwest Arkansas may be light considering the more than 1,000 jobs Wal-Mart purged from its corporate payrolls already this year.” Read more

 

**A message from the Las Vegas Souvenir & Resort Gift Show – get ready for the nation’s largest souvenir show! Browse 1,300+ booths filled with the latest introductions from every major souvenir and resort supplier. New for 2017, the show welcomes even more made in America products, a new Boardwalk section and a special spotlight on Gourmet gifts. September 13-16, 2017. Register Now | Exhibitor List

 

The Buckle August comp sales -7.9% Press release

 

Supervalu will begin offering tech services to independent grocers by Jon Springer at Supermarket News. “Jerry’s, a 50-store retailer based in Edina, Minn., that operates food stores under the Cub Foods, County Market, Jerry’s Foods and Save-A-Lot brands, as well as liquor and hardware stores, is expected to flip its first store to Supervalu’s network services early next month, with plans to complete all stores by early November, said Jeff Miller, Jerry’s chief information officer.” Read more

 

Just smile: In KFC China store, diners have new way to pay at Reuters. “Customers will be able to use a “Smile to Pay” facial recognition system at the tech-heavy, health-focused concept store, part of a drive by Yum China Holdings Inc to lure a younger generation of consumers.” Read more

 

Macy’s Expands Same-Day Delivery Service to Cover 33 Markets Press release

 

Home Depot agrees to pay $5.7 million to settle charges by the CPSC that it sold nearly 3,000 recalled items in its stores by Tina Bellon at Reuters. “The commission claimed that Home Depot, between August 2012 and November 2016, knowingly sold units of 33 different products, including portable heaters, outdoor lights and fire extinguishers, that had been recalled due to dangerous defects.” Story

 

Star Wars ‘Force Friday II’ kicks off ‘Last Jedi’ marketing push by Thomas Barrabi at Fox Business. Read more

 

CAMPBELL LOSES TO WALMART – Big Food Faces Pressure From Retailers Demanding Discounts at Wall Street Journal. “On Thursday, Campbell Soup Co. said its sales would suffer this winter because it failed to reach an agreement with a major retailer over promotional pricing and shelf space for its canned soup, its most important product. The unsuccessful negotiations were with Wal-Mart Stores Inc., according to people familiar with the situation. Wal-Mart comprises about 20% of Campbell’s annual sales.” Read more (subs.)

 

How the 93-year-old matriarch of Columbia Sportswear fled the Nazis and later built a $2B empire by Tom Cunneff at CNBC. “Before they fled (Germany), Nazi officials visited their house on several occasions to interrogate her father and wrote “Jews live here” on the outside of the house. But because Jews couldn’t leave the country with more than the equivalent of $20 in cash, it meant her father had to pretty much give away his shirt factory — one of the largest in Germany, which employed hundreds of people.” Read more

 

Barnes & Noble shares surge over buyout speculation by Carleton English at NY Post. “The New York-based bookseller denied a Wednesday report that it had retained Guggenheim Partners to help it explore a sale. The report by trade publication Deal Reporter also said B&N spoke to private equity firms Apollo Management and Platinum Equity.” Read more

 

Harvey’s Made the World’s Most Important Chemical a Rare Commodity by Jack Kaskey at Bloomberg. “Texas alone produces nearly three quarters of the country’s supply of one of the most basic chemical building blocks. Ethylene is the foundation for making plastics essential to U.S. consumer and industrial goods, feeding into car parts used by Detroit and diapers sold by Wal-Mart Stores Inc.” Read more

 

Same-day delivery startup Deliv expands to 1,400 cities, rivalling Amazon’s Prime Now by Ingrid Lunden at TechCrunch. Read more

 

‘White trash’ sticker found in toy vending machine at Family Dollar by Joy Johnston at Cox Media Group. “Robert Dumas told WXYZ his daughter received the sticker after putting 50 cents into a toy vending machine at an Oak Park Family Dollar recently. The sticker featured a crude drawing of a white figure with arms raised, popping out of a trash can. “White trash” was printed at the bottom of the sticker.” Pic/Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

As Harvey gained fury, Home Depot raced to respond

Walmart’s new sweeter ‘designer’ melon coming to stores this winter

Mom pulls out gun during ‘back to school’ brawl at Walmart

Pete Rose Won’t Return to Fox Sports After Sexual Misconduct Allegations

Border wall prototype contractors selected

Parties agree to dismiss suit that accused Home Depot of shorting customers on paint

Now you’ll be able to get $6 avocado toast at Walmart, too

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

***

Eye on Retail Tipsheet is must-read material for 20,000+ retail execs every weekday morning. Tipsheet stories are carefully curated bright and early every morning to ensure fresh and unique content.

 

Subscribe to Eye on Retail Tipsheet here

 

Contact us: Send story tips, press releases and advertising inquiries to info@eyeonretail.net

 

Website: www.eyeonretail.net