Archive for category: Eye-on-Retail

 

“Target Breach:  Coming to a Theatre Near You” by Jennifer Bjorhus at Star-Tribune.  “Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. confirmed Friday that it is working on a movie based on the security blogger who exposed Target Corp.’s monster data security breach.  No production date has been set, a Sony spokeswoman said, but the cyberthriller will be penned by Richard Wenk, a writer and director whose credits include “The Expendables 2” and “The Mechanic.” He also wrote “The Equalizer,” a not-yet-released movie that has Denzel Washington playing a former black ops commando.”  Read more

 

“Interview with Target Canada President Tony Fisher” by Francine Kopun at Our Windsor.  “In a rare, unguarded moment, he did not mince words when it came to how he feels about 2013, which saw the retailer open 124 stores across Canada in less than a year and lose nearly $1-billion U.S.  “I hope to God it is the most challenging year I ever have in my career,” he said…He admits to challenges. For one thing, expectations were too high, including the expectations Target set for itself.  “We bought into a much more aggressive sales rate than what materialized,” said Fisher.”  Read more

 

Glassdoor’s Highest Rated CEOs 2014 (Costco’s Jelinek #1 in Retail / #6 Overall; H.Depot’s Blake #41 Overall)  See the Top 50 List

 

More on Walmart’s New ‘Savings Catcher’ Test…

 

“Walmart’s ‘Savings Catcher’:  Smart but Limited” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “The program only pertains to grocery. It does not include general merchandise or electronics, which is one of the several ways Wal-Mart has protected itself with this program, according to analysts.  “At first glance I like the program. Psychologically, it could resonate with the customers. It should also help to drive in-store traffic…” said Jason Long, CEO of Shift Marketing Group. He said it hasn’t been that long ago that Walmart was the clear leader in low prices in the minds of most consumers. But Dollar Stores, Aldi and aggressive pricing from Kroger, HEB and other grocers have nipped away at that image.”  Read more

 

AP’s take on ‘Savings Catcher’:  “The tool isn’t revolutionary” by Anne D’Innocenzio via Charlotte Observer.  “Anne Jurchak of Belmont was part of Wal-Mart’s focus group. She said she’s been getting back $5 to $7 on her weekly trips to Wal-Mart in which she typically spends $200 to $250. Jurchak used those savings to buy holiday stocking stuffers and a case for her e-reader.  As a part-time marriage counselor and mother of two sons, Jurchak, 41, a said she’s never had time to take advantage of price matching.  “They’re doing the work for me,” Jurchak said. “The only thing they’re not doing is putting the groceries away.” Read more

 

“These Are the 10 Strongest Gasoline Brands — and You’ll Never Guess What’s at No. 1” by Aimee Duffy at The Motley Fool.  “That’s right, Costco is at No. 1. It’s almost unfathomable that a company that barely, if at all, advertises for gasoline can take the top spot on this list, but it has. In a way, it’s almost an advantage not being an oil company in this case (you’ll notice BP is not on the list) and generating good feelings with the larger brand.”  See the top 10 list

 

“Former FreshDirect Delivery Workers Sue for Tips” by Vanessa Wong at Businessweek.  “The plaintiffs claim FreshDirect’s mandatory delivery charge, which starts at $5.99, should be considered a gratuity that’s owed to the roughly 300 delivery people employed by the company. As a result, they allege that FreshDirect unlawfully takes in at least $23.4 million in gratuities each year.” Read more

 

CNBC Headline:  “Pssst…a peek at retail’s next big thing”  10 stores that could be coming to a mall near you

 

Speaking of Malls…CBS Sunday Morning’s lead story:  “A dying breed: The American shopping mall”  “Today, malls across the U.S. are dying. No new enclosed mall has been built since 2006, and Lewis predicts fully half of all our malls will close in the next 10 years.  “Why would you get in your car and drive to a mall when you can just reach in your pocket?” asked Strassmann.” Read more / See the video

 

“Merrill Lynch Defends Home Depot, Says It Is Headed to $100” by Jon Ogg at 24/7 Wall Street.  “What investors need to consider is that this $100 price target is the top price target in the Home Depot analyst coverage universe. It is also more than $10 above the consensus $89.60 price target listed by Thomson Reuters.”  Read more

 

Week at a Glance: Earnings Announcements

3/25:  Walgreen, HD Supply, Five Below

3/27:  Fred’s, Restoration Hardware, Gamestop

 

Follow @retaileyeretail

 

“Walmart Testing New Ad Match Program Called ‘Savings Catcher’ ” from ISI Retail Summit.  How it works:  Consumer buys products, enters receipt code online, Walmart looks at ad prices in the area, if there is a lower price Walmart gives a credit to consumer on a Walmart gift card.  Currently being tested in seven cities: Charlotte, Lexington, Atlanta, Minneapolis, San Diego, Dallas, Huntsville.

Walmart’s Duncan Mac Naughton,  Highlights from Summit:

* Walmart has a 41% – 42% share of Bud Light’s two new Lime-A-Rita brands (Mango & Rasberry).  A $100 Mil Business across all four sku’s.

*  Launching an OPP brand, 55 sku’s, in 400 stores + 240 more coming called Fit for Purpose.

*  Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuit Mix (“crazy how well it sells”) – Exclusive to Walmart until June.

*  On tobacco: “As long as it’s legal we’ll keep selling it legally.”

*  Sell marijuana in Denver stores?:  “No sir, we’ll follow the Federal rule”

Listen to Webcast

 

First ‘Walmart to Go’ Officially Opens in Bentonville (3 Blocks from HQ):

The City Wire:  “Walmart to Go sells convenience, prices remain consistent” by Kim Souza.  “The items were consistently priced at all three formats (Walmart to Go, Neighborhood Market & Supercenter) — 14 items were priced exactly the same, the bottled water at the supercenter did not have a price listed on the shelf, but it was $3.48 at the other two stores. Total spend, excluding the water was $47.60 at all three formats.  The retailer looks to be selling convenience in this new hybrid format. The real savings came in time, something there never seems to be enough of for most consumers today.”  See the in-store video / Read more

 

NWA:  “First ‘Walmart to Go’ Opens in Bentonville” by Rebecca Jeffrey & Rebeckah Garrett.  “Customers are saying they are so excited and surprised that this is a smaller size box that offers convenience options but at the Walmart price,” Layton said.  So far, Bentonville is the only city slated to have a “Walmart To Go.”  See the in-store video / Read more

 

“Tomorrow:  Walmart Kicks Off Spring ‘Black Friday’ Event” at CNBC.  “Wal-Mart is slashing prices and debuting deeper offerings in its outdoor living and lawn and garden segments. The move puts pressure on home improvement leaders Home Depot and Lowe’s, which consider the critical spring selling season their version of Christmas.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart’s New Ad Is A Carbon Copy Of Duracell’s Ad With Derrick Coleman” by Aaron Taube at Business Insider.  “Duracell’s commercial starring Seattle Seahawks running back Derrick Coleman is easily one of the best ads of 2014.  If you don’t remember it, the ad features a moving voiceover in which Coleman tells the story of how he reached the NFL despite being deaf…It seems Walmart might have liked it even better than we did.  That’s because the retail giant’s newest commercial, which tells the story of a factory worker with physical and mental disabilities, is extremely similar to the Duracell ad. It was made by the same ad agency, Saatchi & Saatchi New York.”  Read more

 

“Consumer Reports:  5 Things to Buy at Walmart and 5 Things to Avoid”  “Walmart is known for value, but there are also plenty of top-performing products on its sprawling shelves. Then again, you could easily end up with a low-priced dud—which is no bargain in the long run.”  See the list

 

“Home Depot’s CEO Frank Blake Speaks at ISI Retail Summit.”  Highlights:

What are you spending your time on?  “Interconnected retail and organizational”

On management transition: 

* “I’m turning 65 this summer.  I’m shockingly not going to live forever.”

* “Craig (Menear) has done a phenomenal job with everything I’ve given to him.”

On “Tribes” within Home Depot:

“Operations and Merchandising are our major tribes.”

“Interconnected retail is not a new tribe – the customer won’t think of it that way.”

On Tech Talent:

“We have our own building called the Tree House where our more creative online people are.”

“I’d like to play ping pong in the afternoon too…”

Square Footage:

In five years will you have the same square footage?  “Give or take”

Lengthy discussion on vendor relations and Amazon…

Listen to 30 minute Webcast

 

“Random:  Disney reveals film plans at annual shareholder meeting” by Daniel Miller at LA Times.  “Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios plans to make a sequel to the 2004 hit “The Incredibles” and a third film in the popular “Cars” franchise.  Iger also discussed Disney’s upcoming “Star Wars” film, which is slated for released Dec. 18, 2015. He said the movie, “Star Wars: Episode VII,” would take place 30 years after “Return of the Jedi” and feature “some very familiar faces along with a trio of new young leads.”  Read more

 

Follow @retaileyeretail

 

 

 

 

 

“Walmart: Trade-In Your Videogame, Get a Pair of Socks” by Ian Sherr & Shelly Banjo at WSJ.  “Wal-Mart itself ran a smaller trade-in program in 2009 where it allowed customers to sell used games through kiosks in certain stores, but the retailer failed to make it work. This time, Wal-Mart has teamed up with CExchange Inc., an electronic trade-in and recycling company based in Carrollton, Texas, which also works with RadioShack Corp. and eBay Inc…Wal-Mart thinks it can differentiate itself because “our customers can buy groceries, socks or a bike, which isn’t the case at other retailers,” Wal-Mart’s chief merchant Duncan Mac Naughton said in an interview Monday.”  Read more

 

“DEA investigating possible violations at Costco pharmacies” by Richard Sharp at KCRA-Sacramento.  “DEA agents recently visited four area Costco pharmacies to inspect the record keeping for prescription drugs, KCRA 3 confirmed Monday.  In federal warrants obtained by KCRA 3, an investigator for the DEA said he believes agents will find numerous problems with the record keeping for hydrocodone pills for Costco pharmacies in Roseville, Sacramento, Manteca and Fairfield.”  Read more

 

“Amazon easing into $1B sideline business: Ad sales” by Jay Green at Seattle Times.  “The company doesn’t disclose revenue generated from online ad sales. But eMarketer estimates Amazon sold $718.3 million worth of ads worldwide last year. What’s more, eMarketer expects Amazon’s ad business to grow 33.5 percent in 2014, generating $958.5 million. That could put it close to AOL, which sold $1.1 billion in online ads last year, but with growth of less than 6 percent.”  Read more

 

“REI Same-Store Sales +2.9% in 2013; Sales Top $2 Billion”  “In 2013, REI opened new stores in Overland Park, Kan.; Tyson’s Corner, Va.; Silverdale, Wash.; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Oxnard, Calif. As of year-end 2013, REI operated 132 stores in 33 states.” Read the release

 

“Cash is Back – Even with Young Shoppers” by Paula Rosenblum at Forbes.  “Thirty-two percent reported they would be using cash as a method of payment more frequently…More surprising, even though those youngest shoppers claim to be the most confident in credit/debit, their stated plans seem to tell a different story: 46 percent plan to use cash more, a higher percent than any other age group.”  Read more

 

“Amazon Engagement Score Plummets from 93 to 83 Following Prime Price Hike: Brand Keys” by Krystina Gustafson at CNBC.  “Based on immediate Prime member reactions, they may have underestimated the negative effects of the increase,” said Robert Passikoff, founder and president of Brand Keys.  “Consumer expectations are always on the increase, and when it comes to online retail, they operate in a ‘what-have-you-done-for-me-recently?’ paradigm. Price increases weren’t what Prime Members were expecting,” he said.”  Read more

 

“28 States Get Pushy with 5 Retailers on Tobacco” at Chicago Tribune.  “The companies receiving a letter on Sunday from the group were Wal-Mart Stores Inc., supermarket operators Kroger Co., Safeway Inc., which operate pharmacies, and drugstore chains Walgreen Co. and Rite Aid Corp.”  Read more

 

“Walmart Canada Celebrates 20 Years”  “Our consumer research shows that 72% of Canadian moms — our core customer — say that Walmart is the top retailer to help them stay on budget,” said Ms. Broader. “We want to build on this commitment to find new ways to make life easier for our customers.”  Read the release

 

“B.C. Canada Bummer:  Only 2 of Vancouver’s 53 Grocery Stores Can Sell Liquor” at Vancouver Sun.  “A rule banning new liquor retailers within one kilometre of existing public or private stores means it could be a long time before you can pick up beer at your local Save-On or Safeway.  Of the 53 grocery stores in the City of Vancouver, only two are more than one kilometre away from an existing liquor store.”  Read more

 

Follow @retaileyeretail

 

 

 

 

 

 

Target’s Thursday Statement:  “With the benefit of hindsight, we are investigating whether, if different judgments had been made the outcome may have been different” by Jennifer Bjorhus at Star-Tribune.  “Target confirmed Thursday that the company had detected “a small amount of … activity” by the cyberthieves before the full scale of the breach was revealed.  “That activity was evaluated and acted upon,” company spokeswoman Molly Snyder said in a statement. “Based on their interpretation and evaluation of that activity, the team determined that it did not warrant immediate follow-up.  “With the benefit of hindsight, we are investigating whether, if different judgments had been made the outcome may have been different,” she said.  Target declined further comment.”  Read more

 

“Google bricks-and-mortar strategy shouldn’t mimic Apple’s” by Thomas Lee at SF Gate.  “Google seems to be exploring a number of options. In addition to the SoHo location, the company is rumored to be developing a store-within-a-store concept at Best Buy. Google recently built expanded displays at some Best Buy locations. Some have even suspected that the infamous Google barge that recently anchored at Stockton might someday become a floating Google store, or display space.”  Read more

 

“The one price Amazon is willing to raise” by Christopher Matthews at Fortune.  “Most of all, Amazon is raising its Prime prices (to $99) simply because it can…After years of duking it out in the rough-and-tumble world of commodity retailing, Amazon finally has a product no one else can offer — and it’s making a pretty safe bet that it can demand a higher price for it.”  Read more

 

“5 alternatives to Amazon Prime” by Brad Tuttle at Time.  “Get a Credit Card with Free Prime.  Certain American Express cards come with an offer of free Prime membership for one year for new members. At least one of the cards (Blue Cash Everyday) has no annual fee itself.”  Read more

 

“Bill Simon:  Pitch Your New Product to Walmart on July 8th” “And then on July 8, we’ll be having an Open Call in Bentonville for suppliers manufacturing in the U.S. and for suppliers ready to pitch new products or new categories.  “Duncan and I will both be there with our merchants and we will make our teams available. We want to hear from you about what else we should be selling at Walmart that we make right here at home.”  Read more

 

Leading Retailers to Present at March 19th ISI Retail Summit:

Walmart @ 11 am ET  Read the release

Lowe’s @ 11:35 am ET  Read the release

Home Depot @ 12:30 pm ET  Read the release

 

“North Dakota: Man Runs Ad Urging Wal-Mart to Let Girl Scouts Sell Cookies Inside (to escape -20 wind chills)” by Helmut Schmidt at Inforum.  “When John Kraft saw kids selling Girl Scout cookies in subzero temperatures outside the 13th Avenue South Wal-Mart, he decided to give the mega-corporation something to chew on.  The West Fargo man quickly snapped a photo of Chanon Anderson and her daughters, Riley, 11, and Isabella, 6. He later got their permission to use it for an ad.”  Read more

 

“Hibbett Sports Same-Store Sales Up 1.7% in Q4, Plans 75-80 New Stores”  “Net sales for the 52-week period ended February 1, 2014, increased 4.1% to $852.0 million compared with $818.7 million for the 53-week period ended February 2, 2013. Comparable store sales increased 1.8% on a calendar basis.”  Read the release

 

“Yesterday:  Lowe`s Presents at UBS Global Consumer Conference”  Listen to Webcast

 

Follow @retaileyeretail

 

Have a great weekend!