Archive for category: Eye-on-Retail

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, he said…’I think we have, largely as a retail industry, absorbed or seen the brunt of the impact from tariffs’.” Read more

…Walmart delivers another quarter of impressive sales but offers a muted outlook at AP. “(Walmart) expects sales (for current quarter) to increase anywhere from 3.5% to 4.5% and earnings per share to be in the range of 63 cents to 65 cents. For the year, it expects sales to reach $706.4 billion and earnings per share to be $2.64. That is a little cooler than Wall Street had been projecting.” Read more

Amazon Dethrones Walmart as World’s Biggest Company by Sales at Bloomberg. “Walmart, which had been the largest company by revenue for more than a decade, on Thursday reported sales of $713.2 billion for the 12 months ending Jan. 31. Amazon, which operates on a fiscal year ending in December, earlier this month reported 2025 sales of $717 billion.” Bloomberg subs.

Wayfair Q4 Total Net Revenue +6.9% Press release

Etsy, Inc Q4 GMS +2.4% Press release

McCann Wins Kroger’s US Creative Business at Adweek. “The Kroger Company‘s total ad spend is roughly $391 million, according to COMvergence…Kroger’s move from DDB to McCann keeps the agency underneath the Omnicom umbrella…” Read more

Etsy sells secondhand clothing marketplace Depop to eBay for $1.2B at TechCrunch. “The deal comes nearly five years after Etsy acquired Depop for $1.62 billion…” Read more

dunnhumby: Walmart’s Grocery Penetration Hits Record 72% “…mass-channel retailers have equaled traditional supermarkets at 79% penetration for the first time…U.S. consumers perceive food inflation to be 19.6%, more than eight times the actual rate of 2.4% in December 2025.” Press release

DoorDash Q4 Total Orders increased 32% year-over-year Press release

University of Texas at Austin adds Shein to list of banned Chinese companies Fox Business

Over 65? Congratulations, You Own the Economy at WSJ. “…people 70 and over controlled roughly 39% of all equities and mutual funds owned by households, compared with 22% in 2007, according to Federal Reserve data. Their share of net worth—assets minus debts—was 32%, up from 20% two decades earlier.” WSJ subs.

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 Finanza tax police also ​searched the homes of ​seven Amazon managers and ​the offices of auditing firm KPMG. The probe is a new strand of an investigation looking into whether Amazon had an undisclosed, permanent base in Italy from 2019 to 2024 and should ⁠therefore ‌have paid more taxes in the country.” Read more

CNBC releases its inaugural Inside Wealth Family Office 15 list (Bezos #2, Lukas Walton #5…) List/Read more

Unaffordable Housing Impacts How Americans Consume, Work and Invest at Bloomberg. “As housing prices climb out of reach, discouraged Americans may be reaching for crypto and other risky investments…When the incentive to strive fades, behaviors change.” Bloomberg subs.

It’s a Grocery Store, but Selling Food Isn’t the Point at NY Times “Happier Grocery opened in 2023 and debuted its event space, called the Apartment, the next year. It has hosted chess nights, family-style dinner parties with chefs, yoga and breath work classes, and knitting workshops led by Ella Emhoff, daughter of the former Second Gentleman of the United States, among other experiences. There is, of course, a podcast. It has an actual grocery store, too…” NY Times subs.

…The Booming Business of Luxury Grocery Stores at WSJ. “Swaddled in expensive parkas and slinging luxury purses, a winding queue of patrons waits for the handsome bouncer to let them inside…’I wanted people to feel like they just took a Xanax when they walk in,” Sammy Nussdorf (of Meadow Lane) says…In downtown Manhattan, there’s Happier Grocery and Rigor Hill Market, both blocks away from Meadow Lane. Uptown is home to a bounty of longer-running spots including Butterfield Market, Agata & Valentina, Zabar’s and Ouri’s Market.” WSJ subs.

Target kicked off New York Fashion Week with the Spring Beauty Studio event in its new retail concept store, Target SoHo Press release

Amazon Pharmacy to expand same-day delivery to nearly 4,500 US cities TechCrunch

Your Strategy Needs a Visual Metaphor at Harvard Business Review. “…metaphor and storytelling did not change what people understood; they changed how much they cared…insights point to what we call a “second level” of visualization power…Strong metaphors connect with people’s imagination. Story structures create continuity and momentum.” Read more

PR Week: AI 25, Class of 2026 (Daniel Danker – Walmart…) List

Sally Beauty is betting on dupe fragrances and instant delivery at Glossy. “Anchoring the category at Sally Beauty is Alt., a dupe fragrance brand known for its interpretations of luxury scents…“We’re doing [fragrance] in our unique way, which continues to be a value play,” Sally Beauty CEO Denise Paulonis told Glossy. “At $25 to $35, you’re getting the equivalent of a $300 fragrance, which fits perfectly with who our customers are.” Read more

US Foods Q4 net sales +3.3% Press release

A year into Trump tariffs, Chinese factories and ports are buzzing with activity at CNBC. “Major ports in China handled 40% more containers during the week ended Feb. 1 from a year earlier…That marks the fastest year-on-year growth in more than 12 months…ports in Ningbo…operated “beyond capacity, with individual vessels overbooked by more than 20%…” Read more

FCC clears Amazon Leo to boost satellite broadband coverage “The approval would add more than 4,500 satellites to the previously authorized constellation of 3,232 Gen 1 spacecraft, expanding coverage to the entire globe…” GeekWire

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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 company gained market share for two consecutive quarters. After its share price fell 50% in the first half of a volatile 2025, it began a steady climb in the fall and is now up 63% year over year. Since Super was announced as CEO, the company’s 183% gain has outperformed the S&P’s specialty retail index by more than eight times.” Fortune subs.

Canada Goose Q3 revenue +14% Press release

Beijing asks shipping companies to consider rerouting cargo through ports other than Panama Bloomberg subs.

Amazon worker increased his hours to 80/week but it wasn’t enough to avoid layoff at Seattle Times. “Several employees who spoke with The Seattle Times said they’d loved working for Amazon…But as Amazon shifted its priorities to AI over the past few years, they noticed a broader cultural shift. The pace at Amazon was already high, like “driving on a freeway at 100 miles per hour trying to catch things,” as the laid-off security engineer put it. The focus on AI increased that pace.” Read more

Boot Barn Q3: Comp sales increased 5.7%, with retail store same store sales increasing 3.7% and e-commerce same store sales increasing 19.6% Press release

Bob’s Discount Furniture announces pricing of IPO at $17.00 per share Press release

Layoffs hit their worst January levels since 2009, Challenger says at CNBC. “U.S. employers announced 108,435 layoffs for the month, up 118% from the same period a year ago and 205% from December 2025. The total marked the highest for any January since 2009.” Read more

‘Entirely false’: Buc-ee’s responds to rumor claiming founder Arch ‘Beaver’ Aplin III donated to ICE at Houston Chronicle/Yahoo

Washington Post lays off one-third of its newsroom – including Caroline O’Donovan, who covers Amazon NBC News

France to wage ‘year of resistance’ against Shein, online platforms, minister says at Reuters. “We need to protect ourselves of course, there is unfair competition, they must respect the consumer rules (applied to French retailers),” Papin said…two French lawmakers are preparing a bill that would allow the government to suspend online platforms without the need for court approval…” Reuters subs.

Pandora, the world’s largest jeweler jumps as CEO says firm wants to pivot from silver at CNBC

Home Depot lays off 800 workers, says corporate employees will return to office 5 days a week at CNBC. “About 150 of the employees were based at Home Depot’s headquarters in Atlanta and the rest were in remote jobs, with most in the technology organization of the company and some on other corporate teams…Decker said the five-day in-office policy will begin the week of April 6.” Read more

Tractor Supply Q4 comp store sales +0.3% Press release

Amazon Found ‘High Volume’ Of Child Sex Abuse Material in AI Training Data at Bloomberg. “Amazon believes it over-reported these cases to NCMEC to avoid accidentally missing something…the volume of suspected CSAM that Amazon detected across its AI pipeline in 2025 stunned child safety experts interviewed by Bloomberg News.” Bloomberg subs.

ACSI 2026 Customer Satisfaction Ratings: Supermarket – Trader Joe’s overtakes Publix / Sam’s Club stays atop the general merchandise industry Press release

Worries deepen in US South after days of grappling with snow, ice and widespread outages at AP. “…officials warned Wednesday that people stuck at home were running out of food, medicine and other essentials…Roughly 332,000 homes and businesses remained without power Wednesday, the vast majority of them in Tennessee and Mississippi.” Read more

How Build-A-Bear Found Success in the ‘Nostalgia Economy’ WSJ subs./Video 8:49

Amazon’s Promotion of ‘Melania’ Has Critics Questioning Its Motives at NY Times. “Amazon paid Ms. Trump’s production company $40 million for the rights to “Melania,” about $26 million more than the next closest bidder, Disney. The fee includes a related docuseries that is scheduled to air later this year. The budget for “Melania” is unknown, but documentaries that follow a subject for a limited amount of time usually cost less than $5 million to produce. The $35 million for marketing is 10 times what some other high-profile documentaries have received.” NY Times subs.

Walmart Boosts Pay Potential for Pharmacy Technicians, Elevates 3,000 Roles Press release

Some TikTok Shop sellers are pulling back as the platform moves to end independent shipping in the U.S. at Modern Retail. “Brands selling on TikTok Shop have been able to handle fulfillment on their own since the platform’s U.S. debut in 2023. Under the new policy, sellers who are not fully transitioned to TikTok’s logistics system by the end of the rollout risk losing access to a crucial sales channel that puts brands’ products in front of some 170 million users.” Read more

51% of Americans say they’ve cut back on their spending to pay for travel USA Today

Mattel builds He-Man movie buzz with new action figures at Reuters. “The toy launch builds on momentum from the new movie’s first teaser trailer, released last week, which has since racked up more than 30 million YouTube views.” Reuters subs.

Sephora CEO Guillaume Motte Outlines Global Ambitions at WWD