Marco Rubio endorses Amazon unionization effort at CNBC. "In an op-ed in USA Today, Rubio asserted that Amazon has “waged a war against working-class values” and is “looking to crush the union vote” at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama. “The days of conservatives being taken for granted by the business community are over,” Rubio wrote." Read more   Ulta Beauty Q4 comp sales down 4.8% Press release   Ulta shares tumble on weaker-than-expected outlook, retailer taps President Dave Kimbell as CEO at CNBC. "Although the decline was smaller than expected, shares fell as the beauty retailer gave a [...]

  Coupang - South Korea’s largest e-commerce company - raises $4.6 billion in U.S. IPO at Reuters. "Coupang said in a statement that it had priced 130 million shares sold in the IPO at $35 per share...giving (Coupang) a market value of $60 billion." Read more   China Lays Plans to Tame Tech Giant Alibaba at Wall Street Journal. "Officials familiar with Beijing’s thinking said regulators don’t want to crush (Alibaba) - as long as it disassociates itself from its flashy and outspoken founder and aligns itself more closely with the Communist Party...Those people said Alibaba also will be required [...]

  Mastercard exec says almost 75% of apparel sales were made online last month at CNBC. "...up from 47% just a year ago.” Apparel sales overall declined 5.3% during the month, but e-commerce spending didn’t miss a beat. Online clothing sales spiked 47% year over year, according to data from Mastercard Economics Institute." Read more   Consumer prices up 0.4% last month but core prices moderate at AP News. "U.S. consumer prices increased 0.4% in February, the biggest gain in six months, led by a sharp jump in gasoline prices. But core inflation, excluding food and energy, posted a much [...]

  Dick's Sporting Goods Q4 comp sales +19.3% "...which included an increase in eCommerce sales of 57%. eCommerce penetration for the fourth quarter of 2020 was approximately 32% of total net sales, compared to approximately 25% during the fourth quarter of 2019." Press release   ...Dick’s Sporting Goods shares fall as retailer predicts slowing sales in year ahead at CNBC. "The sporting goods retailer estimated that same-store sales could decline as much as 2% or grow by as much as 2% in the year ahead, a significant drop from same-store sales growth of nearly 10% in fiscal 2020." Read more [...]

  GameStop shares jump after retailer taps Chewy co-founder Ryan Cohen to lead e-commerce shift at CNBC. "Cohen is serving as chairman of a special committee formed by GameStop’s board to help its transformation. Board members Alan Attal, Chewy’s former top operations executive, and Kurt Wolf, chief investment officer of Hestia Capital Management, also serve on the committee." Read more   Big Lots Q4 comp sales +7.9% Press release   Amazon-backed Deliveroo reveals it lost $309 million in 2020 ahead of IPO at CNBC. "A date for Deliveroo’s initial public offering has not been officially announced but it is likely [...]

  Costco comp sales (ex-gas & f/x): Q2 +13.0% / February +13.8% Press release   ...Costco bacon demand jumps 45% at Fox Business. "(CFO) Galanti, who is skilled at explaining Costco’s hits and misses in plain speak, ballparked the inflationary uptick. “Some categories are in that 2-4% range, some like meat and pork a little higher than that, produce is flat” he detailed in response to a question. However, overall inflation is flat to up 1-1.5% he clarified." Read more   Costco Wholesale's Q2 Earnings Call Transcript Seeking Alpha   Greg Smith, head of Walmart supply chain, exits to Medtronic [...]

  Kroger Q4 identical sales (ex-fuel) +10.6% Press release   BJ's Wholesale Q4 comp sales (ex-gas) +15.9% "Adjusted EBITDA increased 36.1% year-over-year to $204.5 million, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020." Press release   Burlington Stores, Inc. Q4 comp sales flat "Michael O’Sullivan, CEO, stated, “We saw comparable store sales improve sequentially as the quarter progressed, starting with a double digit decline in November, improving to flat in December, and then accelerating to double digit growth in January." Press release   ...Burlington has increased its long-term store target to 2,000 stores, up from its previous store target of 1,000 [...]

  Michaels Companies to be bought by Apollo Global in $5 billion deal at CNBC. "Apollo will commence a tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Michaels for $22.00 per share in cash. The purchase price represents a 47% premium to the closing stock price on February 26, 2021 (the last trading day prior to press speculation about a potential transaction involving Michaels)." Press release   Dollar Tree, Inc Q4 comp sales: Enterprise +4.9% / Family Dollar +8.1% / Dollar Tree +2.4% Press release   ...Big-box competition hits Dollar Tree sales, shares fall at Reuters. "Net sales rose 7.2% [...]