“Lowe’s Q3 Comp Sales +5.1%” “Sales for the third quarter increased 5.6 percent to $13.7 billion from $13.0 billion in the third quarter of 2013…For the nine month period, sales were$43.7 billion, a 4.6 percent increase over the same period a year ago, and comparable sales increased 3.5 percent” Read the release

 

“Lowe’s earnings, revenue top expectations” by Terri Cullen at CNBC. “The company posted third-quarter earnings of 59 cents per share, up from 47 cents a share in the year-earlier period, on revenue of $13.70 billion. Analysts had expected the company to report earnings of 58 cents a share on $13.55 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.” Read more

 

“Dick’s Q3 Comp Sales +1.1%” “eCommerce penetration for the third quarter of 2014 was 7.3% of total sales, compared to 6.5% in the third quarter last year. In the third quarter, the Company opened 24 new DICK’S Sporting Goods stores, one new Golf Galaxy store and seven new Field & Stream stores.” Read the release

 

“Dick’s Sporting Goods says golf, hunting continue to drag down profits” by Teresa F. Lindeman at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Dick’s said growing demand for women’s and youth sports clothing have rewarded the retailer’s decision earlier this year to shift thousands of square feet of sales space at its stores around the country away from declining sports like golf and toward expanded offerings in those areas.” Read more

 

“Dollar General may have to ax more than 4K stores” by Josh Kosman & James Covert at NY Post. “The Federal Trade Commission may require the country’s No. 1 dollar store chain to divest more than 4,000 stores to win approval of its stalled $9.1 billion merger proposal, two sources close to the situation said Tuesday.” Read more

 

“Wal-Mart scammed into selling PlayStation 4 for $90” by Sarah Whitten at CNBC. “Customers have misused Wal-Mart’s price-match promotion to obtain $400 PlayStation 4 consoles for less than a quarter of the retail price using third-party sellers on Amazon.” Read more

 

It’s official: “Walmart Canada lays off 210 head office, field management employees” at Financial Post. “The retail giant handed out the pink slips earlier Tuesday, with both management and non-management positions affected. It says the positions being eliminated are at the head office and in field management.” Read more

 

***A message from Dig It® Handwear.  Garden glove protection for manicured female hands!  Finally something new and unique for the female consumer.  High-quality gloves provide unique “pillow-top” protection for finger nails when gardening or working around the house.  Nationally distributed in Canada and coming to U.S. in Spring ’15.  Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary calls it one of the best pitches he’s seen.  View the line at www.digithandwear.com.  Peggable gloves merchandise easily–see the off-shelf display. Contact info@shiftmarketinggroup.net to get started.

 

“Staples Plans to Close 170 Stores in North America This Year (Up from 140 Planned in August)” by Chelsey Dulaney at WSJ. “Staples Inc. on Wednesday said its fiscal third-quarter sales fell, as the office-supplies chain accelerates plans to close underperforming stores and spark sales growth online.” Read more (Subscription)

 

“How Disney Turned ‘Frozen’ Into a Cash Cow” by Binyamin Appelbaum at NY Times. “Disney really began to focus on princesses in 2000, after a new executive went to see a “Disney on Ice” show and was struck by how many of the girls in the audience were wearing homemade princess costumes. “They weren’t even Disney products”…The Disney Princess line now makes about $4 billion a year.” Read more

 

“Bentonville dubbed as North Pole for toys” by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Wal-Mart vendors set up under awnings to display the latest, most sought-after toys for area kids to see and test again this year. “We estimate between 8,000 and 10,000 people visited this year’s event. It was the biggest yet in the five years we have hosted this popular outing,” said Brandi Wardlaw, event coordinator for Downtown Bentonville Inc.” Read more

 

Fortune: 20 great workplaces in retail by Christopher Tkaczyk.  See the list

 

“Here’s what Amazon’s fourth downtown Seattle block might look like” by Marc Stiles at Puget Sound Bus. Journal. See the pics / Read more

 

Chicago Business Journal not a fan of Kmart’s “Jingle Bellies” TV Spot by Lewis Lazare. “The main problem is the new commercial’s near total lack of sex appeal. Watching a line-up of guys in less-than-great shape tap out a jingle on their bellies simply isn’t very exciting or amusing. Or sexy.” See the spot / Read more

 

CNBC: “OK, Home Depot you tricked us … but why?” by Juan Aruego. “The headline was profits of $1.15 per share, which is 2 cents above what analysts expected. The major news outlets (including CNBC) all trumpeted some form of “Home Depot beats estimates.” Unfortunately, that’s not how most analysts saw it. By 8 a.m. EST, at least six analysts had said Home Depot’s profits were just $1.12, a 1-cent miss.” Read more / See the video

 

Heard on Home Depot’s Q3 Earnings Call

 

Comps

* Broad-based growth across our geographies with all three of our U.S. divisions posting mid-single digit comps.

* Every region positively comped in the quarter as did 39 of our top 40 markets.

* Our service businesses had comps above the company average with strength in windows, countertops and water heaters.

* The growth in our pro business continues to be anchored by our large spending Pro which grew at approximately 2x the company average.

* Canadian business posted comps above the company average…making it 12 quarters in a row of positive comps.

* Comps in local currency for our Mexican business were in line with our company average yielding their 44th consecutive quarter of positive comps.

* Total comp transactions grew by 3.1% while comp ticket increased 2.1% for the quarter.

* Transactions for tickets under $50 representing approximately 20% of our U.S. sales were up 1.9% for the third quarter.

* Transactions for tickets over $900 also representing approximately 20% of our U.S. sales were up 5.9% in the third quarter.

 

E-com

* Sales from our online channel grew almost 40% in the quarter and this was particularly impressive as we anniversary growth of over 50% in the same quarter last year.

* Almost 40% of our online orders are picked up in the store using our Buy Online Pick Up In Store and Buy Online Ship to Store capabilities.

* This year we are installing dedicated storage bays in 550 stores to improve the customer experience.

* Almost 40% of our orders through Home Depot.com in the quarter actually culminated in one of our Orange box stores.

* Online deliver from store: we’re in pilot at this point in two stores and the pilot is going well. It’s a very small pilot at this point.

 

Ted Decker’s Q4 Brand Callouts

Everbilt (PL), Kohler, Diablo, Milwaukee, DeWalt & Makita

 

Q&A

* I wouldn’t look for a dramatic departure from any of the strategies that we’ve had in place. (Menear)

* We’re two weeks into November and I must say that I’m impressed with the sales that we’ve reported to date. So if there’s a bias in or forecast I would say it’s a biased to the upside. (Tome)

* As you know we review about a third of the business each year, so while we’ve had these tools in place for a couple of years now, we still haven’t reviewed the entire store utilizing leveraging the new tools. (Decker)

* A newer set of tools that we haven’t talked that much about and I do see promise in the future is in space. (Decker)

* So once you have your demand and your assortment, how do you best get the appropriate micro space facing rate of sale and we have tools for that that we’re starting to use. (Decker)

* The disruptions at the ports in general transportation delays have been pretty difficult the last few weeks but thanks to a lot of hard work our team has been able to land our Black Friday freight. (Holifield)

* You never would’ve thought appliances would be as strong as it is as an online category. (Decker)

* We feel so good about Canada though that we are opening a store in Canada this year. We haven’t opened a store in Canada for a number of years. (Tome)

* If we have a 5% increase in the average ticket for Pros or three more transaction is a $1.2 billion opportunity. (Tome)

 

Read the Home Depot Q3 Earnings Call Transcript via Seeking Alpha

 

***

Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet read by thousands of Retail Merchants & Executives every weekday morning. Eye-on-Retail is unique because it’s timely, smart and fun. It’s created early AM every weekday and delivered between 7-8 am CST. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s happening in the world of retail. Contact us @ info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.

 

 

 

Busy Earnings Week – Highlights:

11/18: Home Depot

11/19: Lowe’s, Target & Staples

11/20: Best Buy & Dollar Tree

 

“Target to offer primary care services in new clinic model” by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. “The fact that Kaiser … will be staffing these clinics is a major departure for Target,” said Tom Charland, CEO of Shoreview-based Merchant Medicine, a retail clinic research and consulting firm. “Up until now, they felt their guests should be treated by Target employees.” Read more

 

“Bulk retailer Costco sees potential growth in demand for Australian produce in international outlets” by Catherine McAloon at ABC Rural. “Mr (Patrick) Noone says Costco is already the biggest seller of Australian lamb internationally and also sells large quantities of Australian beef overseas, while oranges from Griffith in New South Wales are sold in Costco outlets in the USA and Asia. Carrots and onions from Tasmania are sold in Costco outlets in Asia and there’s growing demand for South Australian abalone in Costco outlets internationally.” Read more

 

“Why Target Canada Won’t Have an Online Store Anytime Soon” by Daniel Tencer at HuffPo. “We know e-commerce needs to be part of our longer term strategy in Canada, but first we have to get the basics right,” Target spokesperson Eric Hausman told HuffPost Canada in an email. “We do have a small team looking at what it would take to develop a digital strategy in Canada, but we have nothing more to share at this time.” Read more

 

“Hundreds gather at Bentonville Walmart for book signing by former President Bush” by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “The book signing for “41: A Portrait of My Father,” took place at the Walmart Supercenter on Walton Boulevard after the former president was a special guest at the retailer’s monthly Saturday morning meeting at the corporate offices across street…The scene looked like a Black Friday event except for the higher security and individual searches conducted by the Secret Service.” Read more

 

“Ellen Goes Holiday Shopping At Target (Race for the Elsa life size doll)” “She went to pick up a few things for the holidays, and had some fun with Target shoppers!” See the video

 

“Protesting outside Amazon HQ, former employee asks current employees to stop working so hard” by Todd Bishop at GeekWire. “3) Don’t kill yourselves to keep the ship running. Slow down. Amazon will be fine…Oh, boy. Questioning the company’s business ethics is one thing, but urging employees to be less productive? It will be interesting to see how Amazon reacts.” Read more

 

“Home Depot data breach lawsuits rise to 39” by David Allison at Atlanta Bus. Chronicle. “A federal court agency known as the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is scheduled to hold a hearing on Dec. 4 in Charleston, S.C., about how to possibly combine and litigate many of the cases as one combined court action.” Read more

 

“Review: I paid with mobile for a week, and here’s what I found” by Anick Jesdanun at AP via Charlotte Observer. “The good news: I didn’t get arrested for failing to pay my debts. But on two occasions, friends had to buy me drinks. Another night I had to borrow $43 in cash. And I prepaid for drinks at one bar because I couldn’t leave a card to keep the tab open.” Read more

 

“Chocoholics beware! A chocolate shortage looms” by Javier E. David at CNBC. “The Post cited data showing the world ate more than 70,000 metric tons of cocoa than it produced in 2013. By 2020, the two major chocolate manufacturers believe that deficit could burgeon to more than a million, a whopping 14-fold surge. By 2030, the gap could blow out to 2 million metric tons.” Read more

 

***

Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet read by thousands of Retail Merchants & Executives every weekday morning. Eye-on-Retail is unique because it’s timely, smart and fun. It’s created early AM every weekday and delivered between 7-8 am CST. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s happening in the world of retail. Contact us @ info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.

 

 

“Walmart Q3 Comp Sales +.5% in U.S.” “Sam’s Club comp sales, without fuel,1 increased 0.4 percent for the 13-week period ended Oct. 31. Sam’s Club increased membership income 10.1 percent for the quarter, and grew operating income more than twice the rate of sales growth. E-commerce sales globally increased approximately 21 percent on a constant currency basis.” Read the release

 

CNBC’s Take: “Wal-Mart tops earnings estimates; shares climb” “The retail giant reported a profit of $1.15 a share on revenue of $118.01 billion. Wall Street had expected the company to post earnings of $1.12 per share .” Read more

 

“Target buys in-store personalization startup Powered Analytics” by Justin Coyne at Pittsburgh Bus. Times. “With its Fabric product, Powered Analytics developed the first in-store personalization platform to bring an “Amazon-like shopping experience” into a physical store.” Read more

 

“Wal-Mart Canada set to axe 200 employees at head office” by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail. “Andrew Pelletier, a spokesman for Wal-Mart Canada, said on Wednesday that he could not comment on rumours or speculation. “In this competitive retail climate it’s not unusual for rumours to circulate.” Read more

 

“Meet the Canadian Hero Who Opened His Own Rogue Trader Joe’s in Vancouver” by Sierra Tishgart at Grub Street. “They got a picture of me from some press thing, so a year ago, I’d go into a Trader Joe&’s, and within ten minutes, someone would be tapping me on the shoulders saying, “We’re not going to sell to you.” Now I hire shoppers off Craigslist. It sounds sketchy: “So, you’ve got to sneak into Trader Joe’s for me and buy groceries.” Read the interview

 

“Two Chicago TargetExpress stores are reportedly in the works” by Nick Halter at Minn./St. Paul Bus. Journal. “The Minneapolis-based retailer is planning stores in Chicago’s Lakeview and Streeterville neighborhoods, reported Crain’s Chicago Business, citing unidentified sources.” Read more

 

***New Product Spotlight – Lock-it Block-it’s window security bar keeps the bad guys out and lets the fresh-air in. Adjustable window security bar blocks criminals from entering a home through open windows. Windows can be open AND homes remain secured. Helps prevent children from falling out open windows. Easy installation.  Watch the video  See the sell sheet  info@shiftmarketinggroup.net 

 

“Target Canada undergoes sales strategy makeover as key Christmas season nears” by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. “We had a lot of wool outerwear last year, and it didn’t sell,” John Butcher, target Canada’s senior vice-president of merchandising, said in an interview this week. Canadians prefer a more “durable” product — coats with fabric that repels water and wind — rather than the coats that sell well in some cold-weather U.S. markets. “We got rid of 90% of our outerwear assortment from last year and just started over.” Read more

 

NY Times: “Alex From Target: The Other Side of Fame” by Nick Bilton. “Mr. Fooks said that in addition to death threats, people have leaked the family’s personal information online, including Social Security numbers, bank accounts and phone records. The family, worried for the safety of Alex and his five siblings, has been in contact with the local police. Alex’s parents have met with his school’s principal and security officers, as well as Target managers, to put together security plans in case of an emergency.” Read more

 

“Ace Hardware reports record third quarter revenue” by Lewis Lazare at Chicago Bus. Journal. “Ace Hardware today announced record revenues of $1.13 billion for the third quarter of 2014, a year-over-year increase of $94.6 million (9.1 percent).” Read more

 

“House Dem presses breached companies for info” by Cory Bennett at The Hill. “Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.) sent letters Wednesday to five companies that have experienced high-profile data breaches this past year — Home Depot, Target, Kmart, Community Health Systems and U.S. Investigations Services (USIS).” Read more

 

“Rosa Parks Institute Says Target Merch Is Not Free Speech” by Bill Donahue at Law 360. “Target Corp. is claiming merchandise bearing the name and image of civil rights icon Rosa Parks is protected free speech, but the group that owns Parks’ publicity rights on Monday called it “an arrogant and reckless disregard for the only charity started by [a] selfless martyr.” Subscription required

 

“Retail Janitors Have Had Enough – Threaten  Black Friday Strike” by Bill Sorem at The Uptake. “Janitors who clean Home Depot and other Twin Cities stores are using the upcoming holiday shopping season to put pressure on the big box retailers and the subcontracting companies that employ the janitors to raise their pay. Dozens of janitors are threatening to strike if there is not an agreement to comply with a “Responsible Contractor Policy” like Target Corporation agreed to earlier this year.” Read more / See the video

 

***

Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet read by thousands of Retail Merchants & Executives every weekday morning. Eye-on-Retail is unique because it’s timely, smart and fun. It’s created early AM every weekday and delivered between 7-8 am CST. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s happening in the world of retail. Contact us @ info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.

 

Happy Veterans Day!

 

“Target joins the Black Friday early birds” by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. “Black Friday shoppers, set your watches — err, smartphones — for 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving night. That time is shaping up to be the main event for the big shopping frenzy this year. On Monday, Minneapolis-based Target said it would open then, too, two hours earlier than last year.” Read more

 

“AmEx Costco Card Seen as Crown Jewel Worth 15 Cents EPS” by Elizabeth Dexheimer at Bloomberg. “The lender’s exclusive role as the credit-card provider for Costco’s U.S. stores may generate 20 cents to 30 cents of earnings per share next year, according to William Ryan at Portales Partners LLC.” Read more

 

“Shipping wars: Retailers to push order deadlines later” by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “According to a new study by Kurt Salmon, which surveyed more than 100 retailers with revenue greater than $750 million, 26 percent will guarantee Christmas delivery for orders placed one to three days ahead of time. That’s up from 17 percent in 2013. What’s more, nearly 50 percent will guarantee on-time delivery for Christmas orders placed by Dec. 20. That’s also up, from 37 percent last year.” Read more

 

“Alibaba smashes Singles’ Day sales record” by Leslie Shaffer at CNBC. “Alibaba’s sales for Singles’ Day, China’s equivalent of Cyber Monday — surged past last year’s record of around $5.9 billion after just 13 hours of the 24-hour shopping promotion.” Read more

 

“Why China’s Singles Day Won’t Become a American Shopping Holiday” by Akane Atani at Businessweek. “Sorry, U.S. retailers: Inciting further consumer spending among America’s singles is going to take more than embracing a modern Chinese custom. Celebrating singledom is fine, but Rogers has a suggestion for a retail holiday that could really warm a millennial’s heart: “Just Got Your First Job Day.” Read more

 

***New Product Spotlight (Sponsored). SunMoon Energy’s Smart Light provides 24+ hours of beautiful bright LED lighting from single solar charge. Use for emergency lighting, outdoor lighting, camping, hunting and tailgate parties. It’s water-resistant and portable and comes with a 3-year warranty. Easily charged with solar panel or AC Adapter (both included). Full charge takes 4 hours and provides 24 hours of on-demand lighting at the 60-Watt setting. See sell sheet. Contact info@shiftmarketinggroup.net for program details.

 

“Target’s starting to get its mojo back: Pro” by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC. “Stifel Nicolaus analyst David Schick on Monday upgraded his rating on the company to “buy” from “hold,” saying it appears Target is playing more “on offense” lately.” Read more

 

Video: Whole Foods NYC Rooftop Garden Featured by Anthony Ha in TechCrunch. “For our latest episode of Built in Brooklyn, we went to the new Whole Foods in Gowanus — which might seem a little strange, but that’s where you’ll find urban agriculture startup Gotham Greens.” See the video / Read more

 

“U.K.: Tesco loses top spot in entertainment sales to Amazon” by Ben Marlow at Telegraph. “Tesco surrendered the number one spot to US retail juggernaut Amazon, which saw its share leap from 17.6pc to 22.5pc year-on-year.” Read more

 

“Wayfair Revenue Up 47% in Q3” “The number of active customers in our Direct Retail business reached 2.9 million as of September 30, 2014, up 61.0% year over year.” Read the release

 

“Deloitte: Holiday Shopping Study” “Respondents with annual incomes of less than $100,000 expect to spend 54 percent of their total holiday budgets in-store, versus 46 percent for those with incomes over $100,000.” Read the release

 

***

Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet read by thousands of Retail Merchants & Executives every weekday morning. Eye-on-Retail is unique because it’s timely, smart and fun. It’s created early AM every weekday and delivered between 7-8 am CST. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s happening in the world of retail. Contact us @ info@shiftmarketinggroup.net.