Neiman Marcus Skips Bond Payment, Starts Clock Ticking by Soma Biswas & Suzanne Kapner at Wall Street Journal. "The luxury retailer didn’t make several bond coupon payments due on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter. The missed payments set in motion grace periods of between five and 30 days for Neiman to make the payment before creditors can take action, these people said." WSJ subs.   Walmart's MoneyCard will let you direct deposit your coronavirus stimulus check by Dalvin Brown at USA Today. Read more   Instacart jumps into prescription delivery with Costco at TechCrunch. "...the delivery [...]

  Starbucks eyes store reopenings as coronavirus fight shows progress at Fox Business. "(CEO) Johnson said the coffeehouse chain has moved to a “monitor and adapt” phase of its response to the pandemic as federal and state authorities conduct discussions to restart the U.S. economy. Starbucks stores will ramp up operations on a case-by-case basis, according to local public health guidance." Read more   Jeff Bezos: Widespread coronavirus testing needed before economy can get running again at CNBC. Bezos full letter   Gardeners flock to stores, overwhelm websites at AP. "Seeds companies are “seeing unprecedented levels of customer interest,” said [...]

  US retail sales for March plunged a record 8.7% (vs. -8.0% expected) at CNBC. "Economists see no respite for consumer spending in the second quarter, with estimates as low as a 41% rate of decline..." Read more   Homebuilder confidence index takes biggest one-month dive in its history at CNBC. "Builder confidence in the market for single-family homes plunged 42 points to a reading of 30 in April, the lowest point since June 2012, according to...HMI...The reading was expected to drop to 55. Anything above 50 is considered positive. The last negative reading was in June 2014." Read more [...]

  U.S. import prices post largest drop in over five years at Reuters. "The Labor Department said on Tuesday import prices dropped 2.3% last month, the largest decline since January 2015, after a downwardly revised 0.7% drop in February. Import prices, which exclude tariffs, were previously reported to have decreased 0.5% in February." Read more   COVID-19 claims lives of 30 grocery store workers, thousands more may have it, union says at USA Today. "...most supermarket workers say customers aren't adhering to safety precautions, the union says. UFCW, a food and retail union that represents over 900,000 grocery workers, surveyed 5,000 [...]

  Walmart’s chief operating officer for U.S. e-commerce Jamie Iannone will become eBay’s new CEO at CNBC. "Iannone was credited for growing the membership and online sales of Sam’s Club. He had just been promoted by Walmart in late February to overseeing the retailer’s digital strategy and online business." Read more   Amazon stops accepting new online grocery customers amid surging demand at Reuters. "Amazon said it would have to relegate all new online grocery customers to a wait list starting Monday while working on adding capacity each week. In recent weeks, it increased the number of Whole Foods stores [...]

  Costco March comp sales (excluding gas & f/x): Overall +12.3% / Ecom +49.8% / US +12.1% / Canada +7.2% / Other Int'l +19.2% Press release   ...Costco Wholesale’s sales soared in March - but well below the 24.1% average estimate compiled by Consensus Metrix at Bloomberg via Seattle Times. "It was still the biggest monthly gain in at least seven years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg...The top-selling category in March by far was food, up about 35%, while sales of general-merchandise items like apparel, luggage and lawn and garden declined, Costco said on the call." Read more   [...]

  KNOXVILLE - Three Pilot Travel Center employees killed in stabbing at USA Today. "The suspect has been identified by the TBI as Idris Abdus-Salaam, a 33-year-old truck driver from Durham, North Carolina...The deputies confronted Abdus-Salaam, who was armed with a knife, in the parking lot. One of the officers fatally shot him after he refused to drop his weapon, Earhart said." Read more   Teen spending takes a dive: Guys splurge on footwear, while a natural look for girls hurts makeup sales at CNBC. "Teens reported their annual spending was down 13% to $2,300 compared with spring 2019, the [...]

  Costco-linked food sample company ceases operations at Fox Business. "Club Demonstration Services, the company that has for years offered food samples at Costco stores nationwide, suspended operations on Monday amid the new coronavirus outbreak." Read more   Walmart sued over coronavirus death by family of deceased employee at Fox Business. "In a lawsuit filed in Cook County court, Evans’ family accused Walmart of negligence that contributed to his death, including a failure to adequately disinfect the store, adhere to social distancing guidelines and warn other employees that some workers were displaying symptoms. Store management was accused of failing to [...]