GDP grew at a 2.3% pace in the fourth quarter, vs. expected 2.5% growth at CNBC. "Consumer spending rose at a robust 4.2% pace...initial unemployment claims totaled 207,000 for the week ending Jan. 25, a sharp decline of 16,000 from the prior period and well below the forecast for 228,000." Read more   Tractor Supply Q4: Net Sales +3.1% / Comp Store Sales +0.6% / Comp Average Transaction +2.3% Press release   H&M's fourth-quarter sales dented by late Black Friday at Reuters. "H&M reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter sales...due in part to a late Black Friday, but said sales were up [...]

  CVS Wants to Help You Spend Less Time in CVS at WSJ. "The new features include a bar code that lets pharmacists quickly look up a prescription and receive a payment, a way for customers to view prescription status and costs, and—in pilot mode at three stores...an app feature that lets loyalty program members unlock those ubiquitous cabinets from their phone...Mandadi said the pilot is going well and the next step will be to expand to 10-15 stores, with the ultimate goal of full-scale deployment." WSJ subs.   ACSI online retail customer satisfaction: Sam’s Club, Chewy, Pet Supplies Plus, [...]

  Forget Factories, Small US Towns Want Buc-ee’s Gas Stations at Bloomberg. "To hear some locals tell it, the arrival of a supermarket-size gas station with pumps for 120 cars is the biggest thing to hit West Memphis, Arkansas, since Elvis Presley had his broadcast debut at the local radio station in 1953...Sixty miles north of Atlanta, the line of cars leading into Buc-ee’s from Interstate 75’s two exit ramps sometimes stretches a mile long. And a future store near Gulfport, Mississippi, is projected to draw 5 million people a year, about the same visitor count as Yellowstone National Park..." [...]

  Costco union that represents 18,000 workers authorizes nationwide strike at ABC. "Our members have spoken loud and clear -- Costco must deliver a fair contract, or they'll be held accountable," Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien said..."From day one, we've told Costco that our members won't work a day past January 31 without a historic, industry-leading agreement. Costco's greedy executives have less than two weeks to do the right thing..." Read more   Canada's annual inflation rate drops to 1.8% in December on sales tax relief at Reuters   Walmart opens new 350-acre corporate campus at Talk Business. "Walmart [...]

  Target says its holiday sales were better than expected — but its profits weren’t at CNBC. "Target raised its fourth-quarter sales forecast Thursday...now expects comparable sales in the fiscal fourth quarter to grow by about 1.5%. That’s better than its most recent outlook that the metric would be approximately flat." Read more   ...Target Provides Holiday Sales Update, Announces Leadership Team Changes "During November and December combined, total sales increased 2.8 percent, comparable sales increased 2.0 percent...Mark Schindele...will be retiring...Adrienne Costanzo (named) as its next chief stores officer...Brett Craig...will retire...Prat Vemana...will take on the role of chief information and [...]

  Wholesale prices rose 0.2% in December, less than expected at CNBC. "...(rose) less than the 0.4% increase in November and below the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 0.4%...Excluding food and energy, so-called core PPI was flat compared to the forecast for a 0.3% rise. Excluding food, energy and trade services, the measure rose just 0.1%." Read more   Retailers post early holiday results at CNBC. "Lululemon now expects sales to grow between 11% and 12% to between $3.56 billion and $3.58 billion, up from a previous range of $3.48 billion and $3.51 billion...Abercrombie...nudged up its net sales growth outlook to [...]

  Amazon aims to expand advertising business by letting retailers use its ad tools on their stores at CNBC. "The service could provide Amazon with valuable data it can use to bolster its ad prediction and recommendation technology. The company said early customers include health and wellness retailer iHerb, Asian grocery startup Weee! and Oriental Trading Co., which sells toys, party and craft supplies." Read more   Costco December comp sales (ex-fuel & f/x) +9.9%: US +9.8% / Canada +10.3% / Int'l +9.8% / Ecom +35.7% "E-commerce sales in December were positively impacted by an estimated 15 percentage points, due [...]