Dollar General Q2 Comp Sales +0.7% “Todd Vasos, Dollar General’s CEO: “Retail food deflation and a reduction in both SNAP participation rates and benefit levels, coupled with unseasonably mild spring weather, proved to be stronger than expected headwinds to our business.” Press release

 

Dollar Tree Q2 Comp Sales +1.2% “Bob Sasser, Chief Executive Officer: “Through what continues to be a challenging retail sales environment, we delivered gross margin improvement and managed expenses effectively to deliver earnings at the top end of our guidance range.” Press release

 

Dollar Tree & Dollar General sales miss estimates via CNBC. “Wal-Mart Stores’ move to double down on competition by reducing prices on key items such as food was also expected to hurt sales at Dollar General and rival Dollar Tree Inc in the quarter.” Read more

 

Target CFO gives Best Buy props on a good quarter by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “We’re sitting here saying, ‘Gosh, our electronics assortment is not where it needs to be. We’re not seeing the innovation in the categories.'” (CFO Cathy Smith) said. “And then Best Buy — I’ll give this one to them. They had a good quarter…We still have some work to do.” Read more

 

Sports Authority customers can opt out of Dick’s Sporting Goods getting their personal info by Monica Mendoza at Denver Business Journal. “Customers would have to do so by Sept. 15, before the data is transferred.” Read more

 

Australia: Woolworths Salvages $380 Million in Home Improvement Exit by Angus Whitley at Bloomberg. “The owner of the Mitre 10 hardware chain in Australia, agreed to buy Woolworths’ Home Timber & Hardware Group for A$165 million…a consortium including Aurrum Group, Spotlight Group and Chemist Warehouse proposes to buy 82 Masters properties and development sites and turn them into large-scale retail centers.” Read more

 

**A message from Fabe – Pillows hand-crafted in Italy prevent and relieve neck and back pain. Fabe’s Ergo Praxis pillow supports and aligns the head and neck to prevent cervical pain. Created in cooperation with Ludes University in Switzerland – it gets the body in the right position for a good night’s sleep. 100% Made in Italy. Ergo Praxis Specs | Fabe Website | How our Pillows are Made | Retailers request samples at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net. Italy-America New Product Connection

 

Best Buy bets on VR for the holidays with 500 stores demoing Oculus Rift by Darrell Etherington at TechCrunch. “Lest you think Best Buy is leaning entirely on Oculus to wow consumers with virtual goodies, the retailer is also going to be running demos of PlayStation VR in 200 locations, on a rotating basis among a number of stores. Sony’s PlayStation-based offering doesn’t come out until October.” Read more

 

Puerto Rico cannot enforce a Wal-Mart tax: U.S. appeals court at Reuters. “The 2015 tax legislation had raised to 6.5 percent from 2.0 percent the tax for on-island companies with more than $2.75 billion in revenues that buy goods from off-island “related parties.” Wal-Mart argued it was the only company that fit that description.” Read more

 

Williams-Sonoma Q2 Comp Brand Revenue +0.6% “Laura Alber, President and Chief Executive Officer: …the overall retail environment has softened and we are being impacted by a more cautious consumer. As a result, we have revised our outlook for the remainder of the year to reflect this change in trend.” Press release

 

Survey: Dick’s Sporting Goods had two of the top 10 ‘breakthrough ads’ during Olympics Press release / Top 10 ads

 

Houston: Local division president wraps up 44-year Kroger career by Mike D. Smith at Houston Chronicle. “If anyone needed to find Bill Breetz, chances were the personable but unassuming 6-foot-5-inch executive was walking the aisles of an area Kroger store in business attire with a Starbucks cup in hand, greeting and chatting up clerks, florists, checkers and shoppers…” Read more

 

Sears Canada announces rebranding – unveils new “clean and contemporary logo” by Sean Craig at Financial Post. “The new look, which evenly spaces the five obvious letters, S-E-A-R-S, before a punctuating red stencil of a maple leaf is, at first glance, perhaps a bit nondescript.” See the logo / Read more

 

Sears Q2 Comp Sales -5.2% via Fox Business. “Sears also said on Thursday it received interest for Sears Home Services business and the unit that houses the Kenmore appliance, Craftsman tools and DieHard vehicle battery brands from potential partners including retailers.” Read more

 

Tiffany Q2 Comp Sales -8.0% via Reuters. “Analysts on average were expecting a decline of 6.90 percent, according to research firm Consensus Metrix.” Read more

 

Wal-Mart’s South Africa Unit Profit Rises as Food Sales Grow by Liezell Hill at Bloomberg. “Massmart… said first-half profit rose 19 percent as increased food and liquor sales offset slower growth in its general merchandise and home-improvement businesses.” Read more

 

Michael’s Q2 Comp Sales +0.7% “CEO Chuck Rubin: “Although sales growth in the first half of fiscal 2016 was more challenging than we anticipated, we believe that we continue to gain market share.” Press release | New CFO named

 

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Amazon Launched This Program for Donating Kindles and Tablets

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