Archive for month: February, 2020

Best Buy Q4 comp sales +3.2% Press release

…Reuters: Best Buy beats broader holiday season blues with strong online sales “Best Buy’s overall same-store sales rose 3.2% in (Q4), beating analysts’ average estimate of a 1.9% increase…Revenue rose 2.7% to $15.20 billion, also beating the estimate of $15.05 billion. The company’s domestic comparable online revenue increased 18.7% to $3.52 billion.” Read more

JCPenney Q4 comp sales -7.0% (vs. expected -7.3%) Press release

…CNBC: JCPenney expects sales declines to continue in 2020, more store closures ahead “Q4: Earnings per share: 13 cents, adjusted, vs. a loss of 6 cents expected. Revenue: $3.49 billion vs. $3.44 billion expected.” Read more

Price analysis shows Amazon Go Grocery is already undercutting nearby retail rival by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. “We compared a basket of 17 items, from fresh vegetables to packaged goods. The verdict? We saved more than 5 percent, or $2.92, at Amazon Go Grocery, paying $52.78 for items that cost $55.70 with a club card at the nearby QFC. Without a QFC club card, the difference would have been nearly 25 percent, a savings of about $10.” Read more

…Clues point to possible location of next grocery store in Seattle by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “An Amazon senior manager is listed on permit filings for a project in Seattle’s Central District, where Vulcan Real Estate is building a huge apartment complex with a grocery store on the ground floor.” Read more

Trump campaign’s plan to woo black voters: Retail stores at Politico. “As part of an ongoing effort to increase Trump’s share of the black vote this fall, the president’s reelection campaign unveiled plans on Wednesday to open a series of “community centers” in empty retail spaces across the U.S. where paid staffers and volunteers will spend the next several months courting black voters with literature, celebrity meet-and-greets and “woke”-branded attire.” Read more/Pics

Morgan Stanley: roughly 40% of units fulfilled by Amazon in the U.S. “went through” one-day delivery in the fourth quarter. That number could grow to 50% by the end of 2020 at CNBC. Read more

**A message from Gusto kitchenware: Not made in China. Gusto’s new line of kitchenware is trendy, colorful and affordable. Manufactured and shipped from Mexico by CINSA – the #1 cookware brand in Mexico. POG | Request samples: info@eyeonretail.net

Apple to begin online sales in India this year, open first retail store in 2021 by Manish Singh at TechCrunch. Read more

Harris Teeter making changes to its 24-hour grocery stores at Charlotte Observer. “…effective March 4, these stores will close at midnight and reopen at 5 or 6 a.m., said Danna Robinson, Harris Teeter communications manager. It’s not just in Charlotte. The new hours for its 24-hour stores and all other stores are companywide.” Read more

Amazon all set to enter India’s food delivery market by Manish Singh at TechCrunch. “The launch of the service, which would be offered as part of either Amazon’s  Prime Now or Amazon Fresh platform, could happen as soon as next month, we are told.” Read more

Walmart in discussions to sell stake in Asda at BBC. “The US retail giant said it was talking to a “small number of interested parties” about a possible investment. It comes after UK regulators blocked Walmart’s plan to merge Asda with Sainsbury’s last year on fears it would raise prices for consumers.” Read more

US economy grew at 2.1% rate in Q4 but virus threat looms at AP. Read more

Etsy tells sellers it’s going to advertise their goods and take a big cut of the sale at The Verge. “Etsy is going to start automatically advertising its sellers’ products and taking a fee — at least 12 percent — for every sale it refers. The ads will appear on “high-traffic sites” like Google, Facebook, and Pinterest, and they’ll be a requirement for shops doing more than $10,000 in sales each year.” Read more

Tesco becomes first UK supermarket to sell bandages for different skin tones at Daily Mail. “The supermarket said it developed the plasters after an employee saw a viral tweet in which a black man said he was ‘holding back tears’ at finding a plaster that matched his skin tone after 45 years.” Read more

Worries over panic buying arise as some supply shelves at stores empty out at KHON 2 “Supplies were flying off the shelves Wednesday, with some shoppers taking pictures of empty shelves at stores across Oahu…At Costco Iwilei, flatbeds were overflowing with boxes of canned goods, bottled water, toilet paper and paper towels.” Read more

Tipsheet Extra

The Guardian: Target raised wages. Then it cut workers’ hours.

Coronavirus patient at UC Davis Medical Center since Feb. 19 wasn’t tested for days

Bill Fields, once considered CEO heir apparent at Walmart, dies at 70

NYC Council bills aim to slash food-delivery fees

Patagonia’s new film celebrates activists fighting urban oil drilling in L.A.

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

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Home Depot’s same-store sales surge in final quarter of 2019 at AP. “Sales at stores open at least a year rose 5.2%, which was also better than analysts had expected. Those sales climbed 5.3% in the U.S.” Read more

Macy’s shares jump after earnings top estimates, helped by a last-minute holiday sales boost at CNBC. “Same-store sales: down 0.5%, on an owned plus licensed basis, vs. a drop of 0.9% expected.” Read more

Tesco completes China exit with $357 million stake sale at Reuters. “Having struggled to crack the Chinese market, Tesco established the Gain Land venture with CRH in 2014, combining the British group’s 131 stores in China with its partner’s almost 3,000.” Read more

Amazon opens first full-sized store without cashiers or checkout lines by Kurt Schlosser at GeekWire. “Two years after launching a chain of convenience stores without cashiers or checkout lines, Amazon is opening its first “Amazon Go Grocery” store in Seattle on Tuesday morning…” Read more

The Costco Connection is America’s fourth biggest magazine at CNN. “The Connection has a circulation of around 14.3 million copies per edition, up from 12.2 million in 2016…behind two AARP publications and Parade, the publication distributed in Sunday newspapers, according to leading magazine auditing firms.” Read more

**A message from Sweets & Snacks Expo: The Most Innovative New Product Awards program showcases the most innovative ideas, concepts & products in candy and snacks. View the 2019 award winners | Register/Website

Shipt shoppers are the latest gig workers to organize by Megan Rose Dickey at TechCrunch. “We are losing money as shoppers at a ridiculous rate,” a shopper from Kalamazoo tells TechCrunch. “…It is a lot of money. Our best guestimation is, we’re all losing about 30% or more. I did four orders this past weekend and I lost money on every single one.” Read more

Target breaks into the top 10 list of US e-commerce retailers by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch. Top 10 list

Walmart Takes on CVS and Amazon With Low-Price Clinics by Matthew Boyle at Bloomberg. “It won’t be easy to persuade Americans to entrust their health to a big-box discount retailer…Even (Doug) McMillon, whose father was a dentist, admits he “just can’t imagine being a dentist working at Walmart,” and he’s not alone.” Tiered subs.

Rent-A-Center Q4 comp sales +1.6% Press release

More than half of Apple retail stores are back open in China after being closed for weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak at Fast Company. Read more

Some Costco stores are barring non-members from eating at the food court — but they weren’t really supposed to be eating there in the first place at Business Insider. Read more

Tipsheet Extra

Hot Wheels unveils radio-control cars modeled after Tesla’s Cybertruck

Freds restaurant needs help after Barneys’ closure

Buffett isn’t as bullish on Kroger as previously reported

Toy industry weighing impact of coronavirus at New York Toy Fair

Here were last year’s most overpaid CEOs

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Eye on Retail Tipsheet is must-read material for 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: Put your product or service in front of the most powerful retail execs in the world, send advertising inquiries to info@eyeonretail.net

Website: eyeonretail.net

CORONAVIRUS IMPACT PRIME DAY?… When You Click Buy on Amazon, It May Be Sweating the Supply by Karen Weise & Michael Corkery at NY Times. “Over the past few weeks, Amazon has responded to the crisis by making larger and more frequent orders of Chinese-made products that had already been shipped to the United States…Amazon also sent an urgent email to brands on Wednesday about Prime Day…indicating that it has begun worrying about inventory for the event.” Tiered subs.

…Coronavirus: China’s manufacturing supply chain pummelled from all sides in efforts to restart at South China Morning Post. “…following the extended Lunar New Year break. Only 15 per cent have come back, B&R China general manager Marko Dimitrijevic said. “All supply chains are having trouble, it’s very serious,” he said. “…For many companies, this could mean bankruptcy.” Read more

Target and Best Buy are among firms joining drive to get employees to vote by Chip Cutter at Wall Street Journal. “Hundreds of U.S. companies plan to give employees time off to vote in this year’s presidential election as part of a business-led push to lift the nation’s traditionally low voter turnout. At least 383 companies, with more than two million workers in 50 states…have signed on to the Time to Vote initiative.” WSJ subs.

Etsy Accelerates AI Experimentation Thanks to Cloud by Sara Castellanos at Wall Street Journal. “At Etsy, about 75 of its 500 engineers have been reallocated from infrastructure management to coding and software tasks that have a direct impact on customer-facing initiatives such as the website, Mr. Fisher said.” WSJ subs.

Costco maps out location for second Shanghai store at China Daily. “Located in the Kangqiao industrial area of Pudong district, the 47,319.2-square-meter area will be developed into a large warehouse store, per public information…the land is only one subway stop away from Shanghai Disney Resort.” Read more

Amazon launches on-demand virtual healthcare service for Seattle-area employees by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “Amazon Care eliminates travel and wait time, connecting employees and their family members to a physician or nurse practitioner through live chat or video…” Read more

L Brands to sell a controlling stake in its Victoria’s Secret brand to Sycamore Partners in a deal that values the lingerie brand at $1.1 billion at Fortune. Read more | WSJ subs.

EVERYONE GETS A PODCAST…Some Staples stores in Boston are getting podcast studios by Ashley Carman at The Verge. “The studios will be soundproof, have enough space for four people to record, and will sync with another company called Spreaker’s technology so people can get discounted access to its hosting and distribution services. A recording specialist will be on hand to help, too, and a 60-minute session costs $60.” Read more

SpartanNash Q4: Net sales +5.3% / Retail comp store sales +0.5% Press release

**A message from Gusto kitchenware: Not made in China. Gusto’s new line of kitchenware is trendy, colorful and affordable. Manufactured by 90-year-old CINSA – the #1 cookware brand in Mexico. Diversify your kitchenware supply chain today. PowerPoint | POG | Request samples: info@eyeonretail.net

Timberland HQ employees return to work a week after office murder of marketing director by Jason Schreiber at Union Leader. “It was a somber return for grief-stricken employees who are still in shock after learning that the 46-year-old Exeter woman was stabbed allegedly by Securitas security guard Robert Pavao…” Read more

Canadian online pharmacy, PocketPills has raised $7.35 million as it expands into Quebec by Jonathan Shieber at TechCrunch. Read more

Walmart’s struggling Japan unit finally delivers with online grocery growth at Reuters. “The barely year-old tie-up between the U.S. supermarket chain’s Seiyu and local e-commerce firm Rakuten Inc clocked 30% sales growth for late October through December…” Read more

Hackers Were Inside Citrix for Five Months at Krebs on Security. “Citrix provides software used by hundreds of thousands of clients worldwide, including most of the Fortune 100 companies. It is perhaps best known for selling virtual private networking (VPN) software that lets users remotely access networks and computers over an encrypted connection.” Read more

Wayfair Partners with Kelly Clarkson Press release

Walmart’s new Twitter trash-talk strategy already paying off at Fox Business. “Walmart wants to get cheekier online…“The ‘bantering’ is part of our strategy,” a statement sent to Fox Business from Jodi Durkin, Walmart’s director of brand social, said. “When brands talk in a fun and playful way that does really well on social.” Read more

Amazon Becomes The Fastest-Growing Streamer In UK After Showing Premier League at Deadline. Read more

Tipsheet Extra

Police find secret cigarette factory 13 feet underground

Inside Wawa’s New One-of-a-Kind Philadelphia Store

Illinois sports betting ‘on track’ for March Madness launch

Nickelodeon will launch SpongeBob prequel

Deafen Amazon and Google with this ingenious bracelet

Amazon PBS documentary missing Jeff Bezos

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Eye on Retail Tipsheet is must-read material for 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: Put your product or service in front of the most powerful retail execs in the world, send advertising inquiries to info@eyeonretail.net

Website: eyeonretail.net

Walmart earnings and outlook fall short as holiday season disappoints at CNBC. “Same-store sales: up 1.9% in the U.S. vs. growth of 2.3% expected. “Sales leading up to Christmas in our U.S. stores were a little softer than expected,” CEO Doug McMillon said.” Read more

…Sam’s Club (comp sales) climbed just 0.8%, compared with growth of 3.4% a year earlier

Walmart employees say they’re preparing for job cuts as retailer rolls out its ‘Great Workplace’ program by Abha Bhattarai at Washington Post. “Everyone’s on pins and needles right now,” said a customer service manager at a Neighborhood Market in South Carolina who has been working for Walmart for 14 years…The store where she works, she said, is replacing six customer service managers with four newly created positions. Employees who don’t make the cut will either be terminated or asked to apply for lower-paying positions, according to two store employees briefed on the transition.” Tiered subs.

Belk eliminates 80 positions at corporate office by Catherine Muccigrosso at Charlotte Observer. “The company had about 1,200 employees in 2018 at its Tyvola Road headquarters in Charlotte, down 200 people from two years prior, the Observer previously reported.” Tiered subs.

Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For (Wegmans #3, Publix #39, REI #60, Sheetz #80) Ranked list

Bed Bath & Beyond agreed to sell online retailer PersonalizationMall.com to 1-800-Flowers.com for $252 million at Fox Business. Read more

**A message from Gusto kitchenware: Not made in China. Gusto’s new line of kitchenware is trendy, colorful and affordable. Manufactured by 90-year-old CINSA – the #1 cookware brand in Mexico. Diversify your kitchenware supply chain today. PowerPoint | POG | Request samples: info@eyeonretail.net

Bezos launching initiative that commits $10 billion to combat climate change at The Hill. “The fund will provide donations — not investments that Bezos could potentially profit from, The New York Times reported, citing a person with knowledge of the plan. The initiative is reportedly separate from Amazon’s work.” Read more

Advance Auto Parts Q4 comp sales +0.1% Press release

IKEA to offer home insurance with Swiss financial group at Fox Business. “The product is being rolled out in Switzerland and Singapore first.” Read more

Amazon Changes the Way It Recruits M.B.A.s by Patrick Thomas at Wall Street Journal. “In the recent past, (Amazon) has hired as many as 1,000 full-time and intern M.B.A.s each year, concentrating on a couple dozen elite programs…Now, in its quest for recruits with a combination of technical skills and business acumen, Amazon says it has broadened its scope and has extended offers to students from 80 M.B.A. programs, curtailing some campus visits and putting a heavy emphasis on virtual meetings.” WSJ subs.

Pier 1 files for bankruptcy at CNN. “(Pier 1) released a statement saying that it reached a plan with lenders to provide it with $256 million. It will try to find a buyer for the company.” Read more

Warren Buffett buys $500M stake in Kroger by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati Enquirer. “Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has acquired a 2.3% stake in Cincinnati-based Kroger, government disclosures say.” Tiered subs.

Amazon stops working with several small delivery contractors, forcing companies to lay off hundreds at GeekWire. Read more

How H-E-B helped reduce utility company’s request for electricity price hike by L.M. Sixel at Houston Chronicle. “H-E-B was experiencing so many power outages at its Houston-area stores that three years ago it began installing its own backup generators to keep food at the right temperature. So when CenterPoint Energy, the regulated utility that distributes electricity to the Houston area, asked Texas regulators to raise rates this spring by $161 million and to boost its profit to 10.4 percent, H-E-B stepped up and said the utility didn’t deserve either.” Tiered subs.

Tipsheet Extra

Can San Francisco be saved?

70,000 ceiling fans sold at Lowe’s recalled because the blades can fly off

Publix faces lawsuit for selling knife after child fatally stabbed

Kroger gives CPG advertisers more sales visibility

20K sign petition to save movie theatre from being demolished for a Costco

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

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Eye on Retail Tipsheet is must-read material for 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: Put your product or service in front of the most powerful retail execs in the world, send advertising inquiries to info@eyeonretail.net

Website: eyeonretail.net