LA erupts into chaos following Dodgers’ World Series victory as ‘hostile’ mob burns bus, looters raid Nike store at NY Post. "Los Angeles descended into chaos Wednesday night as belligerent baseball fans set a bus on fire while others clashed with cops and looters ran amok following the Dodgers’ World Series victory..." Read more/Pics   U.S. economy grew at 2.8% pace last quarter, powered by consumer spending at CBS News. "Forecasters expected the country's gross domestic product...to come in at 2.6%..." Read more   Floor & Decor Holdings, Inc. Q3 comp sales down 6.4% Press release   Mastercard’s Earnings [...]

  ACSI:  Sam’s Club surges past Costco in customer satisfaction: Top performers include: Department stores: Macy’s (82) Discount stores: TJX (Marshalls, TJ Maxx) (82) Hypermarkets: Target (80) Warehouse clubs: Sam’s Club (Walmart) (85) Press release   Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. Q2 comp sales +4.9% Press release   ...Boot Barn CEO takes CEO job at Ross Stores "...since 2012, James Conroy has served as President and CEO of Boot Barn...Prior to joining Boot Barn, Mr. Conroy served in various executive roles at Claire’s Stores, Inc. from 2007 to 2012..." Press release   VF Corp Q2 Revenue: The North Face down 3% [...]

  Amazon sets ultra-low pricing plans for Temu rival store at The Information/Reuters. "The company's price limits include $8 for jewelry, $13 for guitars and $20 for sofas, according to the report...Amazon plans to ship orders to U.S. customers directly from a facility in Guangdong, China..." Read more   Sri Atluri, Chief IP Counsel at Walmart, discusses strategies for reducing IP risks and protecting innovations at Clause 8. "On patent enforcement: “If we’re not protecting the innovation that we are spending our money on developing, then we’re essentially donating our R&D dollars to our competitors.”...“It is a hundred percent worth [...]

  Peloton partners with Costco to sell Bike+ at CNBC. "Under the terms of the deal, Costco will offer Peloton’s Bike+ in 300 of its U.S. stores for $1,999, and on Costco.com for $2,199 between Nov. 1 and Feb. 15. It is a steep discount from the typical price of the Bike+, which is selling on Peloton’s website for $2,495." Read more   Walmart Launches Nationwide Same-Day Pharmacy Delivery "The new offering is now live in six states: Arkansas, Missouri, New York, Nevada, South Carolina and Wisconsin. By the end of January 2025, Walmart's Pharmacy Delivery is expected to be [...]

  Retail sales rose 0.4% in September, better than expected at CNBC. "Excluding autos, sales accelerated 0.5%, better than the forecast for just a 0.1% rise. The numbers are adjusted for seasonal factors but not inflation, which rose 0.2% on the month as measured by the consumer price index." Read more   Walmart’s CTO places bigger bets on generative AI as customer shopping habits evolve at Fortune/Yahoo. "The search bar is no longer the way to shop," says Vasudev. That’s led Walmart to pivot by announcing this month that it's starting to use predictive models and generative AI to offer a [...]

  Walgreens Boots Alliance Reports FY 2024 Earnings "Fourth quarter sales increased 6.0 percent year-over-year...Fourth quarter operating loss was $978 million...comparable pharmacy sales increased 11.7 percent in the fourth quarter...comparable retail sales decreased 1.7 percent." Press release   ...Walgreens to close 1,200 US stores over the next three years at AP. "... about 500 store closures will come in the current fiscal year...Walgreens operates about 8,500 stores in the United States and a few thousand overseas. All of the stores that will be closed are in the United States." Read more   True Value declares bankruptcy and sells itself to [...]

  Consumer prices rose 0.2% in September, hotter than expected; annual rate increased 2.4% at CNBC. "Much of the inflation increase — more than three-quarter of the move higher — came from a 0.4% jump in food prices and a 0.2% gain in shelter costs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in the release. That offset a 1.9% fall in energy prices." Read more   Costco September comp sales (ex-gas & f/x) +8.9% : US +9.3% / Canada +6.3% / Int'l +9.6% / Ecom +22.9% "...comparable sales for the retail month of September benefitted by approximately two percent in the [...]

  Sam’s Club is opening a club in the Dallas area with no checkout lines at CNBC. "When shoppers walk into Sam’s Club’s newest store, they’ll soon see a shiny blue Mercedes-Benz SUV, a sectional sofa and zero checkout lanes...In the area typically reserved for cash registers, the company will display online-only items as wide-ranging as a 12-foot Christmas tree and a five-carat lab-grown diamond...“It’s kind of the physical manifestation of a journey we’re trying to go on as a company,” Sam’s Club CEO Chris Nicholas said, as he showed off the club before its grand opening." Read more   [...]