EBay Is Laying Off About 800 Workers, 6% of Global Workforce at Bloomberg. "...The layoffs mark the third round of cuts in three years. In early 2024, the e-commerce company axed about 1,000 jobs, or about 9% of its workforce, saying labor costs had outpaced growth. In early 2023, the company terminated about 500 employees, or about 4% of staff..." Bloomberg subs.   Warby Parker Q4 net revenue +11.2% Press release   American Eagle to serve as exclusive apparel and denim sponsor of country music festival Stagecoach at Adweek. "American Eagle will also release a limited-edition clothing collection on [...]

  Home Depot Q4 comp sales +0.4% Press release   ...Home Depot beats Wall Street’s expectations at CNBC. "Despite the fourth-quarter sales decline, Home Depot topped Wall Street’s revenue and earnings expectations for that period. In an interview with CNBC, Chief Financial Officer Richard McPhail said U.S. consumers and the company have “been in a frozen housing environment for three years” – and there hasn’t been a meaningful thaw." Read more   Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. Q4 net revenue -9.8% Press release   Saks Owner Says He Saved Department Stores. Never Mind the Bankruptcy. at NY Times. "I had 50,000 [...]

  Walmart Q4 comp sales (ex. fuel): Walmart US +4.6% / Sam's +4.0% / Walmart Int'l (net sales growth) +7.5% "Global eCommerce sales grew 24%...global advertising business up 37%...membership fee revenue grew 15.1% globally...gross margin rate up 13 bps, led by Walmart US." Press release   ...Walmart reports strong holiday growth, but earnings outlook falls short of estimates at CNBC. "(CFO) Rainey also said consumer price increases from inflation and President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes should ease in the coming months. Food inflation at Walmart in the fourth quarter was just above 1%, while it was slightly higher for general merchandise, [...]

  The Break Is Over. Companies Are Jacking Up Prices Again. at WSJ. "Companies from Levi Strauss to McCormick...say they are raising prices early this year...increases appeared to be stronger than normal for January for electronics, appliances and other durable goods, said UBS economist Alan Detmeister...Columbia Sportswear said it is upping prices of spring and fall merchandise by, on average, a high single-digit percent..." WSJ subs.   Nancy Guthrie kidnapping investigators work with Walmart after identifying suspect’s backpack at AP   Jim, Rob and Alice Walton are now the world’s 8th, 9th and 10th wealthiest people with a combined net [...]

  CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor: January Data Shows Fourth Consecutive Monthly Gain "The Retail Monitor calculation of core retail sales (excluding restaurants in addition to auto dealers and gas stations) was up 0.15% month over month in January and up 5.51% year over year. That compared with increases of 1.6% month over month and 3.58% year over year in December." Press release   Forbes 250: America's Greatest Innovators (Bezos #2, Sinegal #17, Blank #54) Ranked list   Italian tax police carried out searches on Thursday at Amazon’s headquarters in Milan in a new tax evasion investigation at Reuters/CNBC. "The sources said the Guardia di [...]

  US retail sales unexpectedly stalled in December at Bloomberg. "The value of retail purchases, unadjusted for inflation, were little changed after a 0.6% gain in November...Eight out of 13 categories posted decreases, including declines at clothing stores and furniture outlets...outlays rose at building materials stores and sporting goods retailers." Bloomberg subs.   Target increases in-store staffing hours, cuts about 500 other roles to help fix customer experience at CNBC. "In an internal employee memo obtained by CNBC, the big-box retailer said it’s making changes to the way it runs and oversees stores to improve the customer experience...To do that, [...]

  Costco January comp sales (ex. fuel & f/x): US +6.8% / Canada +8.2% / Other Int'l +2.7% / Total Company +6.4% / Digitally-Enabled +33.1% Press release   Spotify Will Soon Offer Physical Books at WSJ. "Beginning this spring, the Swedish streaming service will allow premium subscribers in the U.S. and U.K. to buy hardcovers and paperbacks through its app, in partnership with Bookshop.org." WSJ subs.   This year’s Super Bowl commercials feature AI, weight-loss drugs and celebrities galore at AP   How Victoria’s Secret got its sexy back at Fortune. "(CEO Hillary) Super’s strategy is showing early signs of success. The [...]

  Amazon sets new Prime delivery speed record in 2025 Press release   PayPal shares sink 15% after forecasting weak 2026 earnings; HP’s Enrique Lores named new CEO at CNBC. "Online branded checkout growth decelerated to 1% in the fourth quarter, compared with 6% a year earlier. The company said this was driven by weakness in U.S. retail, international headwinds and tougher comparisons." Read more   Saks Global to exit Amazon partnership during bankruptcy at GlobalData/Yahoo   The Expensive Decision Walmart’s CEO Made That Changed Everything at WSJ. "Doug McMillon...sat down with WSJ ahead of his last day..." 7:15 video/WSJ [...]