Walmart enacting emergency leave policy for its 1.4 million hourly US workers at NY Post. "...hourly workers who work in a store, club, office or distribution center will receive up to two weeks pay if they’re required to quarantine by the government or by the retailer. Workers who have a confirmed case of the virus will also receive two weeks of pay. If they are not able to return to work after that time, additional pay may be provided for up to 26 weeks for both full- and part-time hourly workers." Read more   Amazon Battles Counterfeit Masks, $400 [...]

  Dick's Q4 comp sales +5.3% Press release   ...Dick's shares jump - pulling guns from another 440 stores this year "Comp sales up 5.3% vs. growth of 3% expected." Read more   Stitch Fix shares crater more than 35% as sales miss and outlook disappoints at CNBC. "On the heels of its disappointing second-quarter results, Stitch Fix said it now expects net revenue in fiscal 2020 to range between $1.81 billion and $1.84 billion. Analysts had been calling for $1.92 billion, according to Refinitiv data." Read more   Apple will reportedly give retail workers unlimited sick leave if they [...]

  Amazon to start selling cashierless Go system to other retailers at AP. "The world’s biggest web retailer said it has “several” signed deals with customers it would not name. A new website Monday will invite others to inquire about the service, dubbed Just Walk Out technology by Amazon." Read more   Costco is pulling free samples over COVID-19 by Kelly Tyko & Jessica Guynn at USA Today. "It was not immediately known if Costco has pulled samples from all stores in the U.S. or only in select areas or when the suspension would end." Read more   Consumer Brands [...]

  Amazon tells Seattle area employees to work from home until March 31 at Taylor Soper at GeekWire. Read more   J.Crew says a hacker accessed some customer accounts by Zack Whittaker at TechCrunch. "J.Crew said an unknown number of customers had their online accounts accessed “by an unauthorized party” almost a year ago, but is only now disclosing the incident." Read more   BACK TO BRICK & MORTAR - Amazon Prime Now and other delivery services hit with delays as online shopping surges amid coronavirus outbreak at CNBC. "...when he went to order the item, he discovered “at least [...]

  Bed Bath & Beyond has tapped Walgreens’ Chief Merchandising Officer Joe Hartsig to become its chief merchant at CNBC. Read more   Nordstrom shares dive on earnings miss, Erik Nordstrom to become sole CEO at CNBC. "Nordstrom said full-price net sales during the quarter rose 1%, and off-price net sales — for its Nordstrom Rack division — were up 1.8%. Digital sales climbed 9% and represented 35% of total sales, compared with 33% a year ago." Read more   ...Integrating Trunk Club into Nordstrom full-line stores and Nordstrom.com Earnings release   Target’s next frontier: Convenience stores and alcohol pickup [...]

  Bed Bath & Beyond has tapped Walgreens’ Chief Merchandising Officer Joe Hartsig to become its chief merchant at CNBC. Read more   Nordstrom shares dive on earnings miss, Erik Nordstrom to become sole CEO at CNBC. "Nordstrom said full-price net sales during the quarter rose 1%, and off-price net sales — for its Nordstrom Rack division — were up 1.8%. Digital sales climbed 9% and represented 35% of total sales, compared with 33% a year ago." Read more   ...Integrating Trunk Club into Nordstrom full-line stores and Nordstrom.com Earnings release   Target’s next frontier: Convenience stores and alcohol pickup [...]

  Target Q4: comp sales +1.5% / digital comp +20% / same-day services accounted for more than 80% of Q4 comp digital sales growth Press release   ...Target cancels in-person investor day in New York City due to coronavirus at CNBC. Read more   Kohl’s holiday quarter earnings, sales beat estimates: Earnings per share: $1.99, adjusted, vs. $1.88 expected Net sales: $6.53 billion vs. $6.52 billion expected Same-store sales: flat vs. a drop of 0.1% expected CNBC   Hudson’s Bay CEO Helena Foulkes reportedly on the way out as retailer prepares to go private at CNBC. "Hudson’s Bay Co. Chief Executive [...]

  Grocers, Retailers Prepare for Surge in Demand as Coronavirus Spreads by Jaewon Kang at Wall Street Journal. "For weeks, as the outbreak advanced mainly in China, retailers focused on maintaining supplies of products they procure from Asia such as tuna, mandarin oranges, garlic and face masks. Their attention shifted in recent days...“This is like a natural disaster, but it’s an illness,” said Doug Baker, vice president of industry relations at FMI." WSJ subs.   ...Panic buying hits New York at Daily Mail. "Over the weekend videos emerged on social media of shoppers rushing to stock up on toilet paper, [...]