Thursday Tipsheet: Comps: Costco +3%, W.Foods +5.9% | Wmart #1 ‘Liked’ Brand | H.Depot Beats Target & Wmart Online

 

“Costco Same-Store Sales Up 3% in October – Beats Street” at Reuters. “Sales at stores open at least a year rose 3 percent in the four-week period ended Nov. 3, including the impact of fuel sales and foreign exchange.  On that basis, analysts expected same-store sales to rise 2.6 percent for the month of October, according to Thomson Reuters data.”  Read more

 

“Costco Reports October Sales Results” (Company Release) “Costco today reported net sales of $8.15 billion for the month of October, the four weeks ended November 3, 2013, an increase of six percent from $7.66 billion during the similar four-week period last year.” Read more

 

“Whole Foods Same-Store Sales Up 5.9% in Q4 – Shares Slip” at Fox Business.  “Overall sales rose 2.2 percent to $2.98 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting $3.04 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S…Same-store sales rose 5.9 percent for the fiscal fourth quarter ended Sept. 29, the slowest pace of the year.” Read more

 

“Wal-Mart, P&G discuss joint business planning” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “Febreze Case Study:  In joint planning, Wal-Mart and P&G could see a major gap in consumer spending toward air care products for the home and auto fresheners such as spray, plug-ins and no-spill diffusers. Air care was a $7 billion industry and there was nearly $4 billion being left on the table because consumers were not purchasing these products at Wal-Mart…Read more

 

“Home Depot Beats Wal-Mart, Target Online” by Shelly Banjo at WSJ. “Home Depot revealed in correspondence with the Securities and Exchange Commission this fall that online sales represented 2.4% of its $74.8 billion in 2012 net sales.  That’s a pretty small number, but it’s notable  because it means the seller of lumber, tiles and cabinets books a greater percentage of sales online than retailers like Wal-Mart and Target.”  Read more

 

“Walmart to Rake in Estimated $200 Mil in 2013 from Duck Dynasty merchandise” by Clare O’Connor at Forbes.  “By the end of 2013, Duck Dynasty product tie-ins will have raked in a massive $400 million in revenues according to industry sources. Sales in Walmart alone account for about half of that bounty, with some stores devoting entire aisles to Robertson-themed merchandise. Other major chains selling Duck Dynasty goods include Target and Kohl’s.”  Read more

 

“Walmart is the #1 Most ‘Liked’ Brand on Facebook (by far)” at Forbes.  See the Top Ten List

 

“BJ’s Puts Foot Down – Won’t Open on Thanksgiving”  “BJ’s is spreading its Black Friday deals across an entire week (Sunday, November 24 – Sunday, December 1), sparing BJ’s Members from having to wake at the crack of dawn (or even before dawn!) to line up for BJ’s great holiday sales on Black Friday…BJ’s is bucking the retail trend of putting sales on Thanksgiving above family time and will continue its tradition of not opening on Thanksgiving Day.”  Read more

 

“Walmart CMO Stephen Quinn First Inductee into CMO Hall of Fame”  “An extensive and impressive background, Mr. Quinn also worked in marketing, sales and finance roles for Quaker Oats, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble and Nortel. He has managed several leading brands, including Tylenol, Johnson’s Baby Products, Quaker Oats, Aunt Jemima, Lay’s Tostitos, Doritos, Great Value, Equate and Walmart.”  Read more

 

“Lowe’s Sitting on Land Worth $1.1 Bil in Australia” by Eli Greenblat at The Age.  “Woolworths and its US  joint-venture partner, Lowe’s, are sitting on a land bank worth nearly $1.1 billion as they lay the groundwork for the national rollout of their Masters hardware stores across 100 sites…the Masters joint venture is still running up sizeable losses, with the sprawling hardware operation posting a full-year loss before interest and tax of $138.86 million in fiscal year 2013.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart Online Price Error Leads to $100 Can of Lysol, Kayaks for $11” by Renee Dudley at Bloomberg.  “Wal-Mart’s website was selling kayaks for about $11 and computer monitors for about $9 earlier today owing to a technical error that led the world’s largest retailer to shut down its online store for maintenance.  The pricing abnormalities were caused internally, said Ravi Jariwala, a Wal-Mart spokesman.  “We’re working quickly to correct” it, he said in a telephone interview, adding that there would be “intermittent site unavailability” until then.”  Read more

 

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Wednesday’s Tipsheet: Wgreen Comps +2.3% | Wmart Likes LEDs | Penney’s “dopes” Mending

 

“Survey: Six fewer days between Thanksgiving & Christmas could cost retailers $1.5 billion” by Amrita Jayakumar at Washington Post.  “There are six fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, the shortest holiday season in more than a decade.  That could cost retailers $1.5 billion in lost sales, according to a report released Tuesday, in another signal of the high stakes for stores the holiday season.  That is one reason “holiday creep” started earlier this year, analysts said.”  Read more

 

“How Walmart Brought Low-Cost LEDs To The Mass Market” by Peter Kelly-Detwiler at Forbes. “I asked John Prince, Walmart’s Senior Buyer of Hardware Consumables, why Walmart felt that now was the right time to launch its LEDs.  “The first big reason we launched now is that LEDs finally got to the point where they were a viable alternative. In the past, LEDs have not been good enough that I could put them in my house and have a quality product. But the technology has now advanced so that we felt comfortable in putting our Great Value label on it.”  Read more

 

“Walgreens Front-End Same-Store Sales Up 2.3% in October” at WSJ.  “Walgreens had October sales of $6.37 billion, an increase of 6.1 percent from $6.0 billion for the same month in fiscal 2013.  Total front-end sales increased 3.5 percent compared with the same month in fiscal 2013, while comparable store front-end sales increased 2.3 percent. Customer traffic in comparable stores increased 0.6 percent while basket size increased 1.7 percent.”  Read more

 

“Is Black Friday dead?” by Katie Little at CNBC.  “Black Friday has reached unplanned obsolescence, and [on] Black Saturday and Sunday the stores get more and more deserted,” said Burt P. Flickinger, managing director at SRG Insight, a retail consulting firm. “By moving sales to Thursday, Black Friday loses its retail relevance.”  Read more

 

“Adobe:  Thanksgiving to Soon Surpass Black Friday in Online Sales; Cyber Monday to Break All Records”  “Thanksgiving Day sales are projected to surpass $1 billion and could overtake Black Friday within the next five years. The growing importance of Thanksgiving Day, the shortened holiday season and the growing role of mobile and social will make 2013 a very different shopping season than ever before.”  Read more

 

“Morale at J.C. Penney is mending” by Maria Halkias at Dallas News.  “They were called “dopes” (dumb old Penney employees) by a newly hired senior executive. Many suspected correctly that they were training their replacements. They cried with longtime co-workers who were sent packing…One former corporate staffer said there was definitely a lockdown in the last few months of Johnson’s regime.  “Paranoia started to set in, and they lost control of the story,” she said.”  Read more

 

“Target offers $200 trade-in on any undamaged iPad” by Steve Alexander at Star-Tribune.  “Target is offering at least $200 in store credit to customers who trade in any undamaged iPad, no matter how old, an attention-getting promotion that coincides with Apple Inc.’s release of a new full-sized iPad and an iPad price cut by rival Wal-Mart Stores Inc.”  Read more

 

“True Value Poaches New Chief Merchandising Officer from Ace Hardware”  “Ken Goodgame will join the company as senior vice president and chief merchandising officer, most recently serving as general merchandising manager for Ace Hardware. He will replace Mike Clark who announced his retirement, and brings diverse executive leadership in retail, consumer goods and hardware manufacturing.”  Read more

 

“Office Depot Sales Off 3% in Q3”  “Total Company sales for the third quarter of 2013 were $2.6 billion, down 3% compared to the third quarter of 2012 in both U.S. dollars and in constant currency.”  Read more

 

“Brookstone YTD Same-Store Sales Down 3.6%”  For the third quarter ended September 28, 2013, comp sales increased 0.7% and Adjusted EBITDA improved by 10% to ($5.0) million, while net sales decreased 7.3% to $88.3 million…For the thirty-nine week period ended September 28, 2013, consolidated net sales decreased 6.5% to $268.3 million and comp sales decreased 3.6%.”  Read more

 

“Walgreens CFO To Present At Credit Suisse 2013 Healthcare Conference Nov. 12” at The Street.  Read more 

 

“Home Depot To Host Third Quarter 2013 Earnings Conference Call On November 19”  at WSJ.  Read more

 

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Tuesday’s Tipsheet: Wmart Struggles w/Gen Y | 22 Depressing Kmart Pics | CVS Beats Street

 

 “Breaking:  CVS Earnings Beat Street” at CNBC.  “CVS Caremark Corp posted higher quarterly profit and raised its forecast for the year on Tuesday, as sales grew at its drugstore chain and it processed more prescriptions.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart managers struggle to capture Millennials” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  ““My team has dug into this, and I personally can’t see what this group is doing. There are great differences between the oldest and youngest in this generation. I understand them until they get to be about 27 with regard to how they shop and what they do,” Scott Huff, general merchandising manager for consumables.  He said the group is important to Wal-Mart, but like most retailers they are somewhat perplexed by demographic.”  Read more

 

“Target expanding skus on eBay for holiday” at Home Textiles Today.  “Target is undertaking in pursuit of omnichannel retailing, it will bump up his presence on eBay from 150 skus to 100,000 for holiday.  “Now this represents a new revenue stream for Target and it introduces a new guest base, which is predominantly men, to our brand,” said Casey Carl, president of multichannel…Carl cited a recent study from Deloitte that found 83% of shoppers use mobile devices while in store.”  Read more

 

“Fear of ‘Showrooming’ Fades” by Drew Fitzgerald at WSJ.  “Wal-Mart says it is benefiting from “reverse showrooming” as shoppers explore products online before buying them in stores. Target Corp. says it installed Wi-Fi at its stores partly to encourage customers to browse products on their phones.  “As my colleagues and I have said several times: We love showrooming—when Target gets to book the sale,” Target merchandising executive Casey Carl wrote in a blog post.  But their optimism doesn’t mean there isn’t cause for concern. The Internet’s share of overall purchases is still growing.”  Read more 

 

“Family Dollar president to appear on “Undercover Boss” “ by Ely Portillo at Charlotte Observer.  “Family Dollar President Mike Bloom will appear on the CBS show “Undercover Boss” on Friday night…“Bloom faces his fear of heights when learning to operate a forklift that takes him 35 feet into the air, nearly blows his rock ‘n’ roll disguise when one employee invites him to a jam session and more,” the Matthews-based discount company said in its description of the episode.”  Read more

 

“Tesco’s In-Store Ads Watch You—and It Looks Like You Need a Coffee” by Carol Matlack at Businessweek.  “Tesco is installing scanning software in its 450 gas stations across the U.K. to develop targeted in-store advertising based on customers’ physical features and shopping habits… The software, created by British digital-media group Amscreen, collects data on shoppers’ appearance to “guess” their rough age and gender. By matching that information with data on their purchases, Tesco can tell that a middle-aged woman buying gas in suburban London at 11 a.m. on a weekday might be in the mood for a coffee, while a man in his early 20s would probably prefer a soft drink.”  Read more

 

“22 Depressing Photos That Show That Kmart Is Dying” by Ashley Lutz at Business Insider.  “Brian Sozzi at Belus Capital Advisors visited several Kmart locations and took photos that illustrate how grim it is at the retailer.  “The research and photos presented below show that Kmart, believe it or not, may be in worse fundamental shape than Sears!” Sozzi writes. “By fundamental I mean dreadful to visit, borderline unsafe stores that are sending the division’s financials down a path of no return.”  See the Pics

 

“Retail sales up 2.6% in October” at The Retail Bulletin.  “Figures from the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor show that total sales increased by 2.6% year-on-year compared to a 2.4% rise September which was the weakest growth of the year. On a like-for-like basis sales edged up 0.8% in October.”  Read more

 

“U.S. Retailers Forecast 2.5% Increase in Holiday Comparable Store Sales, BDO USA Survey Finds”  “According to a recent BDO USA survey, chief marketing officers (CMOs) at leading U.S. retailers forecast a modest 2.5 percent increase in 2013 holiday comparable store sales. Last year, CMOs had a more optimistic projection of a 3.7 percent increase in holiday same store sales.”  Read more

 

“MacKenzie Bezos blasts new book about husband Jeff and Amazon” by Jay Greene at Seattle Times.  “The new book on Amazon.com by Bloomberg Businessweek writer Brad Stone gets one star from MacKenzie Bezos.  The wife of Amazon founder and Chief Executive Jeff Bezos posted her review on Amazon Monday in which she criticizes Stone for “numerous factual inaccuracies.”  Read more

 

“Pet food not P&G’s Bag? Why P&G might shed pet food” by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati.com.  “Analysts increasingly are intrigued with the prospect of the Cincinnati-based consumer products giant getting out of the pet food business.  “Iams just doesn’t fit their core business,” said Leon Loewenstine, managing director at Riverpoint Capital Management. “And Lafley’s under pressure to take bolder action to grow sales.”  Read more

 

“Seattle could be first U.S. big city where burger flippers earn $31,000 a year” by Peter Robison at Bloomberg via Vancouver Sun. “Supporting a $15-an-hour minimum wage could be suicide for politicians in Seattle. It’s too low.  Much of the U.S. would scoff at mandating a full-time pay equivalent of $31,200 a year, but in the biggest metropolitan area in the Pacific Northwest it’s an idea taken seriously.”  Read more

 

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Monday’s Tipsheet: Costco Likes Apparel | Publix Sales Up | C-Stores & Tyson

 

“Jim Cramer: Costco Is a Game Changer” at The Street.  “Costco’s selling $1,000 Versace handbags for $500. The store just got in some killer Italian ties that look no different from the Ferragamos I wear, for 1/10 of what I pay for the name brand…There’s enough selection now — much more than I have ever seen — and enough famous brands, as well as the Kirkland private-label version, that I think Costco may actually be helping to reorder the apparel universe.”  Read more

 

“Peapod who? Online grocer shows Amazon, Walmart how it’s done” by Donna Tam at CNET.  “The Illinois-based online grocer, which has been around for more than 20 years, is growing steadily and now serves residents in pockets of the Midwest and East Coast. It’s now considered the top provider of online grocery deliveries, fighting off competitors as they emerge.”  Read more

 

“Tyson Foods Looks to C-Stores to Sell More Chicken” by Shruti Date Singh at Bloomberg.  “The company is seeking fortune beyond the supermarket meat department. That’s why it’s rushing to sell piping-hot Buffalo chicken bites near the cash register at many of the gas stations and 149,000 convenience stores across the U.S. Such locales may not be sexy or even particularly appetizing, but their sales are growing while revenue at traditional food stores is falling.”  Read more

 

“Publix Same-Store Sales Up 4.1% in Q3”  “Publix’s sales for the third quarter of 2013 were $7 billion, a 5.6 percent increase from last year’s $6.7 billion. Comparable-store sales for the third quarter of 2013 increased 4.1 percent…Publix has 1,076 stores in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee.”  Read more

 

“Weis Markets Same-Store Sales Down 2.9% in Q3”  “In the thirteen-week period ending September 28, 2013, the Company’s sales totaled $661.4 million, a 1.0% decline compared to the same period in 2012. Comparable store sales for the same period were down 2.9%…Weis Markets, Inc. operates 165 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia.”  Read more

 

“Ron Johnson Fights Back on his J.C. Penney Tenure” by Barbara Thau at Forbes.  “Johnson told me via email that although it’s premature to discuss his tenure at J.C. Penney, he did say that much of the analysis of his stint at the chain has been “lacking in depth, largely inaccurate, and surprisingly uninformed.”  Read more

 

“Online Ads Fall Twice as Fast as Physical Ads at New York Times” at Ad Age.  “Digital advertising dropped 3.4% to $32.8 million, “due to ongoing secular trends and an increasingly complex and fragmented digital advertising marketplace,” the Times said. Print ads fell only 1.6%.”  Read more

 

“Duck Dynasty stars at new Field & Stream store”  See the pics

 

“Google, Apple and others look to a post-cookie era” by Brandon Bailey at San Jose Mercury News via Seattle Times.  “Privacy experts warn that any new system that replaces cookies will likely let Internet businesses learn even more about individuals, especially if it tracks their habits across multiple gadgets that people use throughout the day.”  Read more

 

“OfficeMax and Office Depot Receive U.S. FTC Clearance for Proposed Merger”  “The companies anticipate completing the transaction after market close on November 5, 2013, subject to the satisfaction of remaining closing conditions.”  Read more

 

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Friday’s Tipsheet: Wmart Holiday Deals Start Today | Target’s Pinterest Plan | Amazon “pays” for Reviews

 

“Walmart kicks off online holiday deals today” by Dhanya Skariachan at Reuters.  “Wal-Mart is kicking off its online deals on Friday, a month earlier than usual – underscoring worries that intense discounting aimed at luring budget-conscious shoppers could result in the most tepid holiday spending rise in four years…Morgan Stanley analyst Kimberly Greenberger expects this holiday season to be the most promotional one since 2008. She sees ecommerce accounting for about 12 to 13 percent of overall holiday retail sales versus last year’s 11 percent.”  Read more

 

“Target Pins Its  Hopes on Pinterest This Holiday Season” by Christine Champagne at Fast Company.  “A study by Curalate that was commissioned by Social@Ogilvy revealed Target was the most shared brand on Pinterest last December…Target worked with Pinterest last spring to pilot Rich Pins, a technology enabling pins enhanced with product information like price and availability. These Rich Pins were a hit, resulting in a 70% increase in visits to Target.com from Pinterest, according to Jeff Jones, who says that huge bump in traffic from Pinterest–as well as the aforementioned study–gave Target the confidence to partner more heavily with Pinterest this holiday season.”  Read more

 

“India Minister snubs Walmart chief Scott Price, cancels meeting” at Economic Times.  “Sources said the Walmart has not clearly spelt out their India plans and the policy support they require for that.  “Walmart officials have met us several times and have always raises one or other new issue. They are not conveying what exactly they want,” the source added.”  Read more

 

“Top Amazon reviewers get thousands of dollars in free swag” by Tim Sampson at The Daily Dot / Salon.  “It turns out not all Amazon customer reviews are written by people who are, technically, customers.  NPR’s Planet Money this week shed new light on a little known Amazon program that provides free products to the site’s top reviewers. In some cases, top-rated reviewers will rake in thousands of dollars worth of free stuff.”  Read more

 

“Best Advice from Karenann Terrell-Walmart EVP & Chief Information Officer” at Fortune.  “Summary: Embrace feedback & pick your boss”.  Watch the short video

 

“Brick & Mortar Retailers Dinged In Consumer Reports Ratings Of Electronics Stores”  “Costco was the lone walk-in retailer to earn a top rating for prices, though it suffers from sub-par selection and is only average for buying ease.”  Read more

 

“Here’s What The Store Of The Future Will Look Like (Hint: Not Amazon)” by Clare O’Connor at Forbes.  “79% listed “instant ownership” as the most appealing attribute of any retailer, online or off. “In other words, Amazon still can’t compete with, ‘I can just get in my car and go get it now,’ said Peterson…However, when the data was sliced across age groups, it became apparent that online retailers have a huge edge with Millennials, who ranked “unlimited options” and “customer reviews” as their top two shopping ideals.”  Read more

 

“Walmart Announces Suppliers Committed to US Manufacturing”  “Walmart U.S. President and CEO Bill Simon and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker today announced at the SelectUSA 2013 Investment Summit that three suppliers have made new domestic manufacturing commitments that will create 385 jobs.  Elan-Polo, Louis Hornick & Company and EveryWare Global, Inc. will produce footwear, curtains and glassware, respectively.”  See the full list

 

“Morgan Stanley:  Holiday-season retail sales look bleak” by Tiffany Hsu at LA Times.  “The report anticipates that during the fourth quarter, retailers will see a scant 1.7% increase in sales at stores open at least a year…Strip out struggling J.C. Penney Co., which researchers predict will roll out deep discounts early in the season, and projected sales growth slips to 1.6%…That’s less than half of last year’s 3.5% expansion, according to Morgan Stanley.”  Read more

 

“Sears Is Not A Retail Story, It’s A Holding Company Holding A Fire Sale” by Laura Heller at Forbes.  “As a retailer, Sears is pretty much done.  All that’s left is to ravage the bones. Or, as Lampert is doing, sell off the parts.  Gone are Sears Hometown and Outlet stores. Gone is nearly half its ownership in Sears Canada with four more locations sold, including a flagship store in Toronto. Gone, soon, may be Lands End and Sears Auto Centers.”  Read more

 

“Harris Teeter Same-Store Sales Up 2.2% in Q4” by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati.com.  “Ahead of its acquisition by Kroger, Harris Teeter reported Thursday a $108 million annual profit – up more than 30 percent from a year ago…same-store sales – a key measure of retailers health that excludes new stores – rose 2.2 percent, compared with 4 percent a year ago.”  Read more

 

“Rite-Aid Same-Store Sales Up 2.1% in October”  “October front-end same store sales decreased 0.6 percent. Pharmacy same store sales, which included an approximate 85 basis points negative impact from new generic introductions, increased 3.4 percent.”  Read more

 

“True-Value Same-Store Retail Sales Up 4.5% in Q3”  “Revenue was $346.5 million, an increase of 2.0 percent or $6.9 million from $339.6 million a year ago. Comparable store sales to core domestic hardware store outlets were up 2.8 percent at wholesale and 4.5 percent at retail for the quarter.”  Read more

 

“Container Store Raises $225M in IPO” at Fox Business.  “The 35-year-old retail chain will have a market valuation of about $827 million at the offering price.  The company operated 62 stores in 22 American states and the District of Columbia as of Oct. 1.”  Read more

 

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Have a great weekend!

Thursday’s Tipsheet: Target Backs Off $100 Bil Goal | Wmart Mgrs Talk Fears | Field & Stream Opens #2 (Si Appears)

 

“Target Backs Off $100 Billion Sales Goal” by Paul Ziobro at WSJ.  “Target Corp. backed off its goal for hitting $100 billion in sales by the end of 2017, as pressure on low-income shoppers and tough competition from rivals like Amazon.com Inc. weigh on results.  The retreat, made Wednesday during a meeting with analysts in Toronto, comes during a tough year for Target and other discounters.” Read more

 

“Target Canada Rollout Not Going as Planned” by Tom Webb at Twin Cities Business.  “Initial sales in Canada have fallen well short of expectations,” CEO Gregg Steinhafel told analysts Wednesday. But he remains “confident we will reach our long-range financial goals in our Canadian segment.” Still, officials concede Target will need to get better at restocking shelves, dealing with inventory and marketing their prices as competitive.  One analyst said, based on Target’s numbers, that Canadian sales fell 20 percent to 30 percent short of projections.”  Read more

 

“Amazon to take on Canadian grocers in crowded retail landscape” by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail.  “American e-commerce powerhouse Amazon.com Inc. is launching online grocery and auto shops on Thursday, adding to an array of category additions this year that has included toys, beauty and home goods. The company is aggressively pushing into Canada, more than doubling its offerings this year, with 14 new kinds of products.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart managers talk fears, innovation and competition” by Kim Souza at City Wire.  “Eight divisional Walmart merchandising managers spoke candidly Wednesday (Oct. 30) to a group of 300 retail and supplier executives about what and who keeps them up at night…The team was asked to assess their competition in terms of who scare them most. The answers ranged from Kroger in dairy and fresh, Dollar General in candy and tobacco and Amazon in electronics.”  Read more

 

“Field & Stream Store #2 Opens (North of Pittsburgh) – Duck Dynasty Stars to Appear” by Cindy Schroeder at Cincinnati.com”  “I got an email from someone in Louisville asking me about the schedule for Si (Robertson) from ‘Duck Dynasty,’” Mayor Jim Collett said. “He was planning a 30th birthday party for his daughter, and she wanted to schedule her party around Si’s appearance.”  Read more / See the video

 

“Home Depot approaches 100,000 mobile POS transactions per week” by Lauren Johnson at Mobile Commerce Daily.  ““You can look at Home Depot – they came out with mobile POS. It was called FIRST program – Find, Inquire, Respect, Solve and Thank,” said Mary Monahan, executive vice president of mobile at Javelin, San Francisco…“Within the first quarter, they had done one hundred million transactions in mobile, and now they’re doing about 100,000 a week – within a year they will do 100,000 a week.”  Read more

 

“Kroger execs talk deals, data and private labels” by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati.com.  “Kroger’s namesake brand is its top seller, and its upscale Private Selection is its No. 6 brand, compared to an entire portfolio of goods sold by vendors like Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo and Smucker’s.  The company announced its year-old Simple Truth brand of healthy items is close to becoming a $1 billion brand.”  Read more

 

“Kroger Isn’t Afraid of Online Grocery Shopping” by Annie Gasparro at WSJ.  “When it comes to grocery stores and the internet, people want to go online to share recipes, find coupons and check their loyalty reward points, Mr. Dillon said during the Q&A session at Kroger’s investor day Wednesday. “Not for e-commerce.”  “I understand some people like that … but there’s still a large percentage of customers that like to get out and have that interaction with friends and neighbors in their community as they walk through the store,” Mr. Dillon said.” Read more

 

“Retailers Brace for Reduction in Food Stamps” by Shelly Banjo and Annie Gasparro at WSJ.  “Retailers and grocers are bracing for another drain on consumer spending when a temporary boost in food-stamp benefits expires Friday…Wal-Mart estimates it rakes in about 18% of total U.S. outlays on food stamps. That would mean it pulled in $14 billion of the $80 billion the USDA says was appropriated for food stamps in the year ended in September 2012.”  Read more

 

“93% of U.S. Consumers Are Loyal to Brick and Mortar Retailers Who Have Sales on Frequently Purchased Items”  “85% of respondents said they would return to brick and mortar stores when alerted to upcoming sales of previously purchased items.  Also while 92% of U.S. consumers use some kind of shopping list (68% specifically use or bring a paper list) to stay organized, most Americans frequently make unplanned purchases, and half describe themselves as impulsive shoppers.”  Read more

 

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Wednesday’s Tipsheet: Wmart CEO on CNBC | Krogers Woos Wall Street Today | Amazon Likes P&G

 

“Walmart  CEO Appears on CNBC”  by Matthew Belvedere at CNBC.  “The 16-day government shutdown earlier this month was a drag on Wal-Mart sales, particularly around military bases and areas with high concentrations of federal workers, said Bill Simon, president and CEO of the retail giant’s U.S. operations.  “That sort of level of conversation and combativeness in Washington creates uncertainty in the economy,” Simon told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday.”  Read more / See the video

 

“How Walgreen’s Went from Zero to 85 Million Loyalty Members” by Kate Kaye at Ad Age.  “The single largest [challenge] was the replacement and standardization of all our POS technology,” said Mr. Holyk. That allowed the company to maintain and track points and balances in real time, he said. The system also talks to accounting systems that track expenses and sales data, integrates with promotional planning systems, and is linked to call-center and customer-service databases.”  Read more

 

“Target’s Sourcing Secrets” by Steve Banker at Forbes.  “Target sources from 35 different origins, but China is by far the most important country of origin. 80.6 percent of internationally sourced goods come from China. To help manage Chinese imports, they have inland consolidation centers and a peer team operating in China.”  Read more

 

“Amazon’s “Vendor Flex” Program Gets Comfy with P&G”  by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “In an attempt to grow its consumer product goods business, Amazon has gotten cozy with consumer products giants Proctor & Gamble and Kimberly Clark to ship personal care products straight from the assembly line…”Household staples are often bulky. Shipping these out of piggyback locations frees up space in Amazon distribution centers for higher margin items,” Long added.” Read more

 

“Kroger Woos Wall Street Today” by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati.com.  “Presenting to Wall Street analysts Wednesdday, Kroger executives are expected to stress continuity and a bright future as it changes leaders.  Kroger’s stock is near an all-time high. It has racked up almost 10 straight years of rising sales. And it will expand into the Southeast U.S. once it closes on an acquisition of North Carolina-based Harris Teeter.”  Read more

 

“Listen to Kroger’s Investor Webcast Today at 9:30 am EST”  Webcast link

 

“What Specialty Retailer Has the Highest Revenue Per Employee?  Tractor Supply of Course.”  by James Quinn at Smart Trend.  “Tractor Supply ranks highest with a an RPE of $619,000. Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance is next with a an RPE of $612,000. Dick’s Sporting Goods ranks third highest with a an RPE of $592,000.  Cabela’s follows with a an RPE of $561,000.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart China Announces New Management Changes” at China Retail News.  “Liang Guiji, senior vice president for Wal-Mart’s business development in China, has resigned. Wal-Mart said it is due to personal reasons.”  Read more

 

“What is Google Hiding on Its ‘Mystery Barges’ ? by Jessica Wohl at Reuters.  “How badly does Google want to keep under wraps a mysterious project taking shape on a barge in San Francisco Bay? Badly enough to require U.S. government officials to sign confidentiality agreements.  At least one Coast Guard employee has had to sign a non-disclosure agreement with the Internet giant, said Barry Bena, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman. Another person who would only identify himself as an inspector for a California government agency had to do the same.”  Read more

 

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Tuesday’s Tipsheet: Walmart Shutters Goodies | Target to Open 33 | Kroger’s ‘Snowflakes’

 

“Walmart Shutters Goodies Subscription Service” by Katie Evans at Internet Retailer.  “The Goodies Co., a subscription service from @WalmartLabs that launched as a test late last year, announced on its site that it is shuttering its operations. Goodies subscribers received a surprise box of food items at their doorsteps once a month for $7 a pop including taxes and shipping.”  Read more

 

“Target to open 33 more stores next month in Canada” by John Ewoldt at Star-Tribune.  “Target announced Monday that it will open 33 more stores in Canada next month, bringing the total number of Canadian stores opened this year to 124.  “It’s very clearly Target’s largest new store growth ever in a year,” said Amy Koo, an analyst at the Kantar Retail consulting firm in Boston. ..The rapid expansion hasn’t been entirely smooth. The retailer expected the Canadian stores to be profitable in the fourth quarter this year. Now the profitability expectation has been moved to the fourth quarter of 2014.”  Read more

 

“Sears May Spin Lands’ End Off” by Tim Parry at Multi-Channel Merchant.  “Sears Holdings Corp. said Oct. 29 that it is considering separating Lands’ End and Sears Auto Center from the rest of the company.  The company said in a press release that separating Lands’ End and Sears Auto Center would allow them to pursue their own strategic opportunities.”  Read more

 

“Kroger Knows Your Shopping Patterns Better Than You Do” by Tom Groenfeldt at Forbes.  “Kroger calls the 11 million pieces of direct mail it sends to customers each quarter “snowflakes” — because if any two are the same, it is a fluke. The redemption rate is over 70 percent within six weeks of the mailing…Kroger uses the coupon dispenser company, Catalina, for point-of-sale coupons, but with a twist dunnhumby insists on — unlike other grocery stores which will offer a Pepsi coupon to a Coke buyer, dunnhumby doesn’t try to convert customers.”  Read more

 

“H-E-B plans $100 million investment around downtown store” by Neal Morton at My San Antonio.  “H-E-B has disclosed plans for a $100 million expansion of its headquarters, a move that would double its downtown workforce by 2030 and transform the area just north of the historic King William neighborhood.  The master plan includes a grocery store, to be called Flores Market.”  Read more

 

“Struggling Sears to abandon flagship store in Toronto” by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail.  “Sears Canada Inc. will abandon its flagship store at the Toronto Eaton Centre – one of the country’s prime real estate spaces – along with four other outlets in a leaseback deal that will generate $400-million for the struggling retailer but raises questions about the fate of its revival efforts.  The move also could pave the way for Nordstrom Inc., which is opening its first store in Canada next year, to nab the prized Toronto Eaton Centre site.”  Read more

 

“What the Harris-Teeter Acquisition Means for Kroger” by Michael Douglass at Motley Fool.  “Here is where Kroger can make a big difference. As the largest grocery chain in the US, it can bring scale advantages and additional capital resources to protect and increase Harris Teeter’s market share in the Southeastern US…Harris Teeter will have additional resources and management talent to compete and retain (and grow) market share.”  Read more

 

“Best Buy enlists star power for holiday ads” by David Phelps at Star-Tribune.  “Best Buy is employing some star power to fortify its television advertising for the holidays with the likes of actors Will Arnett and Maya Rudolph.  But the elephant in the TV spot is Amazon.com and other online retailers as Best Buy attempts to counter the “showrooming” phenomenon where customers shop the stores but order goods online.”  Read more

 

“Safeway’s Pain Could Be Roundy’s Gain” by Brian Stoffel at Motley Fool.  “The view from 30,000 feet is that Mariano’s is hitting the ball out of the park, while the rest of the players continue to be a drag. The problem is that while there are 11 Mariano’s stores — all located in Chicago — the traditional segment of the business has 150 locations. There simply aren’t enough Mariano’s locations to balance out the overall poor performance by the other chains.”  Read more

 

“RadioShack Goes Retro with First Custom Concept Store”  “A new “retro” RadioShack opens Wednesday, Oct. 30 at noon in the new Commerce Building in Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth, Texas. The tenth RadioShack concept store open nationwide, this all new location was custom-designed for Fort Worth.”  Read more

 

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