Big Lots Q2 comp sales +31.1% at The Street. "Our [comparable] increase was the best in the company's history, and adjusted EPS was the most we've reported in a second quarter, and more than five times what we reported a year ago," Bruce Thorn, president and CEO, said in a statement." Read more   Gap’s decision to pivot and make face masks put $130 million in its registers at CNBC. "During the quarter ended Aug. 1, Gap’s total sales fell about 18% to $3.28 billion from $4 billion a year ago. Its online sales surged 95%." Read more   [...]

  Amazon to open first of its new chain of Fresh grocery stores in Los Angeles’ Woodland Hills neighborhood at CNBC. "...will open its doors this week to customers invited from the local area, the company announced Thursday. The store will open to the broader public in the coming weeks." Read more   ...Amazon's latest grocery store concept opens, with high-tech carts at Reuters. "This lets shoppers filling up to two grocery bags forgo the store’s cashiers via technology systems that discern what they put in the cart and bill a credit card on file once customers leave through a [...]

  Best Buy Q2 enterprise comp sales +5.8% / Domestic online comp +242% Press release   ...Best Buy’s Growth Crimped by Product Shortages at Wall Street Journal "The stronger-than-anticipated demand as we opened our stores for shopping resulted in more constrained product availability than we expected,” Chief Executive Corie Barry said...Best Buy shares fell 5% in early Tuesday trading. The shares had doubled from their March lows and were trading near all-time highs heading into the earnings release." WSJ subs.   S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller: US home prices rise 3.5% in June at AP. "...down from May’s 3.6% increase and slightly [...]

  Amazon teams with City University of Seattle to train military employees for new roles at Seattle Times. "Amazon military veteran employees working in the company’s fulfillment centers, for example, can take the online courses — which have no fixed start times in order to fit around a full-time work schedule — to prepare them for current and future needs in the company..." Read more   Hedge fund to close after ‘grave mistake’ in Neiman Marcus bankruptcy at NY Post. "Distressed investment firm Marble Ridge Capital plans to wind down its funds after a government report called into question the [...]

  Amazon’s consumer boss Jeff Wilke, a top lieutenant to Bezos, will step down in 2021 at CNBC. "Dave Clark, who is senior vice president of retail operations, will succeed Wilke after he retires, Amazon said." Read more   U.S. existing home sales shoot to near 14-year high in July at Reuters. "The National Association of Realtors said on Friday existing home sales rose 24.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.86 million units last month." Read more   Foot Locker Q2 comp sales +18.6% Press release   Two tropical storms could threaten the Gulf Coast within the same [...]

  BJ's Wholesale Q2 comp sales (ex-gas) +24.2% Press release   ...BJ's Wholesale Club profit doubles as members load up during coronavirus at Fox Business. "...earned $106.6 million, or an adjusted 77 cents per share, as revenue rose 18% year-over-year to $3.95 billion. The results outpaced the adjusted earnings of 60 cents a share and revenue of $3.74 billion that Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting." Read more   Amazon tells third-party Prime sellers to start working weekends at NY Post. "Amazon told third-party sellers participating in its Seller Fulfilled Prime program — which allows them to advertise [...]

  Walmart U.S. Q2 comp sales +9.3% / Ecom +97% / Sam's Club comp sales +13.3% / Int'l net sales -6.8% Press release   ...Walmart beats profit estimates as online sales hit record on pandemic boost at Reuters. "Gross margins rose to 24.9% in the quarter edging past expectations of 24.24%...Analysts had estimated a (U.S. comp sales) gain of 5.73% (vs. 9.3% actual), according to IBES data from Refinitiv." Read more   Home Depot Q2 comp sales +23.4% Press release   ...Path to Home Depot becomes familiar for millions in pandemic at AP. "Overall revenue hit $38.05 billion, far exceeding [...]

  Amazon investigated by German watchdog for abusing dominance during pandemic at CNBC. "A spokesperson for the regulator told CNBC that it is “not up to a private platform to be a price regulator or the price police.” Amazon is using “unknown mechanisms” to regulate sellers on its platform, they added." Read more   China's JD.com posts upbeat results as online orders surge at Reuters. "The company’s net product revenue, which includes online retail sales, rose 33.5% to 178.19 billion yuan in the second quarter." Read more   Home Depot Braced for Covid Pain—Then Americans Remodeled at The Wall Street [...]