Archive for category: Eye-on-Retail

“Dollar Tree 2nd-Quarter Earnings Rise 4.6% on Higher Sales” at the Wall Street Journal.  “”Sales, customer traffic, average ticket, earnings and operating margin all continue to grow,” said Chief Executive Bob Sasser. “Customers are responding in record numbers to our outstanding values in both discretionary and consumable merchandise categories.”  Read more

“Walmart summit focuses on need for more U.S. manufacturing jobs” by Sandra Pedicini at Orlando Sentinel.  “”I really think we’re at a tipping point now for U.S. manufacturing,” Wal-Mart Stores chief executive officer Mike Duke said. “Transportation costs are going to continue to rise, so I think producing product near consumers is a phenomenon that’s happening here in the United States and will be a tremendous opportunity.”  Read more

“Walmart Goes After Silicon Valley Talent” by Cadie Thompson at CNBC.  “We are clearly going to be investing in technology, no doubt about it. Whether it’s acquisition or our own capabilities,” Duke said. “I spent Monday and Tuesday at our office in San Bruno, Calif. We have acquired talent, the best talent in the world, the smartest talent in Silicon Valley. … So we will invest in areas of technologies, and at the same time we are going to continue to invest in stores.”  Read more

“Retailers Sounding Sleigh Bells in August” by Kelli Grant at CNBC.  “There is some basis for the Christmas-in-August approach. “We do know that 40 percent of holiday shoppers say they begin shopping before Halloween,” said Kathy Grannis, spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation. If it draws in even a few extra customers, early action can be a big advantage in a competitive season, she said.  Read more

“Thrifty shoppers threaten retail recovery in Canada” by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail.  “Statistics Canada said retail sales fell by 0.6 per cent in June from a month earlier, weaker than analysts’ forecast of a 0.4 per cent drop. Business was bruised by the effects of Alberta flooding and a Quebec construction strike, but perhaps more worrisome was a steeper slide in Ontario despite higher car sales there.” Read more

“U.S. Retailers Cautious About Second Half as Sales, Traffic Slow” by Natalie Zmuda at Ad Age.  “It’s a puzzling trend. Retailers have cited higher gas prices, the 2% rise in Social Security taxes and rising mortgage rates as consumer concerns that are impacting sales. Pent-up demand for big-ticket items like cars, appliances and home improvements could also be tempering spending on apparel and other discretionary items.”  Read more

“Why shlep? A new app lets you get Costco-like savings on bulk items without a trip to the store” by Phyllis Furman at New York Daily News.  “Soho-based Boxed, which bills itself as “Costco in your pocket,” says it will offer one- to two-day delivery and deep discounts on hundreds of products sold in bulk.  “We bring wholesale savings to people’s doorsteps,” Boxed CEO Chieh Huang — the founder of popular mobile gaming company Astro Ape — told the Daily News. “You don’t have to take out hours of your day to load and unload.” Read more

“Sears declining appliance sales is the shocker behind bigger-than-expected loss” by Andria Ching at Market Watch.  “They should be thriving now with the upturn in the housing market,” Craig Johnson of Customer Growth Partners said in an interview. “They are still No. 1, but barely.”  Johnson said Sears has lost its market share to about 27% from 41% in the early 2000′s. In comparison, both Lowe’s and Home Depot have grown their share from less than 10% to about 22% and high teens each to be No. 2 and No. 3 in the market.”  Read more

“Sears Earnings Call Highlights”  See the PowerPoint

“Shutterstock to Provide Facebook Advertisers with Free Stock Images” by Addy Dugdale at Fast Company.  “On a blogpost entitled Big Updates For Small Businesses, the social network said this:  “In the coming weeks, marketers will have access to millions of images from the Shutterstock library — at no additional cost. Shutterstock’s images are commercially licensed and available for use in all Facebook ad formats. Thanks to Shutterstock’s API and search capabilities, these images will be fully searchable and accessible directly within Facebook’s ad creation tool.”  Read more

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Have a great weekend!

“Lowe’s Comp Sales Climb 9.6%” at Seeking Alpha.  ” Lowes today reported net earnings of $941 million for the quarter ended August 2, 2013, a 26.0 percent increase over the same period a year ago…Sales for the quarter increased 10.3 percent to $15.7 billion from $14.2 billion in the second quarter of 2012, and comparable sales for the quarter increased 9.6 percent. For the six month period, sales were $28.8 billion, a 5.1 percent increase over the same period a year ago, and comparable sales increased 4.6 percent.” Read more

“Like Home Depot, Lowe’s results benefit from housing rebound” at Reuters.  “No. 2 home improvement chain Lowe’s Cos Inc reported a rise in quarterly profit and sales on Wednesday as U.S. homeowners encouraged by the housing market recovery spent more on their homes.  Net earnings rose to $941 million, or 88 cents a share, in the second quarter ended August 2 from $747 million, or 64 cents a share, a year earlier.”  Read more

“Target Releases Q2 Earnings this Morning at 9:30 am CST”  Listen to the Webcast

“Highlights from Yesterday’s Home Depot’s Q2 Earnings Call”

Frank Blake:

We grew sales by almost $2 billion in the quarter, posted the first double-digit positive comp in our business since 1999, and had the highest quarterly transaction count in the company’s history.

All of our top-40 markets posted positive comps and 98% of all of our markets were positive.

Every one of our merchandising departments exceeded plan for the quarter.

In the first quarter, our pro customer growth outpaced our consumer growth.  For the second quarter, the growth rates were comparable. This reflects less of slowdown in pro than a pickup in our consumer sales.

On interconnected retail, we are at the point where almost one out of every three online orders are completed in the store either through Buy Online Pickup in Store, or buy online ship to store.

Of course customers have the opportunity to buy additional items when they come into our store and return or pickup a product as today one out of five customers do.

Craig Menear:

The departments that had double-digit positive comps were kitchens, indoor garden, lumber, outdoor garden, lighting, tools, electrical and flooring.

Transactions for tickets under $50, representing approximately 20% of U.S. sales, were up 3.8% for the second quarter, principally due to our garden business. Transactions for tickets over $900 also representing approximately 20% of our U.S. sales were up 15.5%.

We were able to recover all the lost sales we projected from exterior project categories in the first quarter and then some. In indoor and outdoor garden, our second quarter success resulted in positive comps in both departments for the first half of the year.

Brand call outs:  Behr Premium DeckOver coatings, Cree LED floodlight, DAP Smartbond adhesive foam gel, Husky steel cabinets.

Q & A:  We have had some really nice innovation and things like LED, which carry a higher ticket, certainly within the light bulb category we are seeing customer step-up, the [bear premium deck over] is a great product, so we are seeing customers willing to spend really in every segment of the category within a category whether that’d be opening price point, mid or high.

Q & A:  At the end of the last year, we had rolled out about 120 stores with an extended appliance program. We added brands in the fall season. We added Samsung around the December time frame which got us to the full offering of brands that we have right now. We are in the process right now of expanding another 120 stores.

Carol Tome:

During the second quarter, we opened one new store in Puerto Rico for an ending store count of 2,258. At the end of the second quarter, selling square footage was 235 million and total sales per square foot were $383.

Read the Full Transcript from Seeking Alpha

“Cautious consumers, wet weather cloud Dick’s Sporting outlook” by Chris Peters at Reuters.  “Adjusted for an extra week in 2012, the company’s same-store sales fell 0.4 percent, missing its forecast of a 2 to 3 percent rise.  Same-store sales at Dick’s Sporting Goods stores rose 0.1 percent while those at Golf Galaxy shops fell 6.1 percent. As of August 3, the Company operated 527 Dick’S Sporting Goods stores and 81 Golf Galaxy stores.”  Read more

“Lowe’s Names New President of Orchard Supply:  Current CEO Departs” at Yahoo Finance.  “Lowe’s said Orchard will operate as a separate, standalone business, retaining its brand and its San Jose headquarters.  Lowe’s also announced that upon closing, Richard D. Maltsbarger, Lowe’s executive who led the team to acquire Orchard, will become President of Orchard. Orchard’s current President and CEO Mark Baker has informed Lowe’s of his decision to accept a position as President and CEO of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association following the closing.”  Read more

“Whole Foods Market to call its Wichita store ‘Bread and Circus’ “ by John Stearns at Wichita Business Journal.  “The name is a tribute to what was once the largest natural foods retailer in the northeast prior to its acquisition by Whole Foods Market in 1992, the release says.  Whole Foods opted for a different name for its Wichita store to avoid conflicting with the local Whole Foods Association, which operates three health food stores in Wichita under the name Whole Foods.”  Read more

“Coming to a store near you: Cutting-edge technology” by Courney Reagan at CNBC.  “Not all retail technology works well. QR, or Quick Response, codes, haven’t taken off the way many had hoped they would. The two-dimensional bar codes, available on many products and ads, are meant for consumers to scan with smartphones to gather more information. “The more hoops you make a customer or user go through, the less likely they are going to use it.”  QR codes probably will be replaced by technologies with fewer steps, he said.” Read more

“Mark Zuckerberg Announces Ambitious ‘Rough Plan’ To Get 5 Billion More People Onto The Internet” by Joe Weisenthal at Business Insider.  “CEO Mark Zuckerberg has put forth what he calls a “rough plan” to bring the internet to the next 5 billion people (there are currently 2.7 billion people online, or roughly a third of the world’s population).  The announcement has a slightly hyperloopy feel to it, as it’s a little bit unclear on how the plan would be executed.”  See the Plan

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The Week Ahead:  Retailers set to Release Earnings:

Tue:  Home Depot, Best Buy

Wed: Lowe’s, Target

Thur: Sears

Read more

“Trader Joe’s Sues Man for Reselling Products in Canada” by Patricia Yollin at San Fran Chronicle.  “Michael Hallatt has spent more than $350,000 at Trader Joe’s in less than two years. But the popular grocery chain doesn’t ever want to see him again.  “I’m their best customer,” he said with a mix of pride and indignation.  Every week, the former Bay Area resident drives his panel van across the border to buy a few thousand dollars worth of merchandise at Trader Joe’s stores in the States. He then turns around and resells the goods at his own shop in Canada for a profit.”  Read more

“Target’s Canadian effort receives a poor grade from shoppers” by Marina Strauss at Globe and Mail.  “The Forum survey indicates that customers in Canada expect a better store experience. It found only 27 per cent of respondents are “very satisfied” with Target, down from 32 per cent in April. In contrast, 62 per cent are very satisfied with Costco, the same as four months earlier; 40 per cent are very satisfied with Wal-Mart, up from 39 per cent.”  Read more

“Hanging Out at the E-Mall” by Jenna Wortham at NY Times via Seattle Times.  “Many entrepreneurs have their sights set on better replicating those experiences online, creating a category of e-commerce loosely known as social shopping. Venture capitalists are opening their pocketbooks for these new start-ups, and even some of the biggest players in e-commerce, like Amazon and eBay, have introduced their own social features.”  Read more

“Not All Retailers Reaping A Bounty From Ecommerce Efforts” by Paula Rosenblum at Forbes.  “Closeout retailer Tuesday Morning has shut down its shopping web site. On first blush this may seem like a befuddling decision.  It is cold comfort to shoppers but it’s actually understandable when looking at pure dollars and cents. In fact, the very same dollars-and-cents issues have deterred TJ Maxx, Nordstrom Rack and even fast-fashion retailer H&M (until recently) from selling outside the four walls of their stores. Why? Well it turns out getting merchandise available for sale online isn’t as cheap as you might think.”  Read more

“28% in UK would Wear Google Glass to Unlock In-store Promotions” by Shukti Sharma at Retail Digital.  “As demonstrated by the report findings, over a third of UK consumers would use Google Glass to plan their shopping routes and over a quarter (27%) would use the technology to search for available stock and product ideas to purchase while in-store – rising to 45% for 18-24 year olds. More than one in five consumers (22%) said they would like to be able to unlock additional offers and promotions, via digital screens such as billboards or store window displays, highlighting Google Glass’s ability to harness impulse buys through instant offers.”  Read more

“A year on the job with Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly” by Thomas Lee at Star Tribune.  “Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly is a man who often uses metaphors to make a larger point. He says corporate turnarounds are analogous to riding a bicycle. “If you start veer to the left, you steer the bicycle to the right,” he says. “And if you start to veer to the right, you steer it to the left. The most important thing is to keep moving.”  Read more

“Food Lion’s new CEO: “We just have to get better” “ by Ely Portillo at Charlotte Observer.  “David Livingston, an independent supermarket analyst, said Food Lion lacks a distinguishing trait to draw shoppers. “They’re just average price. They’re just right in the middle of the road with everyone else,” he said.  “I think they’re just going to fall in the trash can with all the other tired old banners that couldn’t figure it out,” said Livingston.  Newlands Campbell plans to prove the doubters wrong. When she talks about Food Lion’s issues, she fastidiously avoids the word “problem,” instead referring to “opportunities.”  Read more

“More and more dollar stores are popping up” by Elisabeth Parker at Tampa Bay Times.  “Dollar General, with 10,600 stores nationwide, is the largest dollar store chain, although it’s no longer technically a “dollar” store. Less than 25 percent of goods sold at Dollar General are a dollar or less. Family Dollar sells about 28 percent of its items for a dollar or less. Only Dollar Tree sells everything in the store for a dollar or less.”  Read more |

“Tesco take on Apple and Amazon with new iPad style tablet” by Michael Somerville at Retail Gazetter via @shoppercentric.  “Sources told the paper it would match Amazon’s Kindle Fire in terms of quality – which costs £130 – but details are still scarce on how much Tesco will charge for its tablet.  Tesco won’t be the first supermarket to launch its own tablet as Asda released its own £99 tablet in July 2011.”  Read more

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“Wal-Mart U.S. same-store sales slip 0.3 percent” at Reuters.  “Wal-Mart Stores Inc posted disappointing quarterly U.S. sales on Thursday as shoppers pinched by higher payroll taxes and gas prices made fewer trips to its stores.  Same-store sales at Walmart U.S, the company’s biggest unit, fell 0.3 percent. Wall Street analysts were expecting a 1 percent gain, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.”  Read more

“Mini-Walmart opens on Georgia Tech campus” by Rebekka Schramm at CBS Atlanta.  “The store is located just across the interstate from Tech’s main campus. It occupies a 2,500 square feet space. That’s a fraction of the square footage of the average Walmart store.The Georgia Tech store is the third of its kind. The others are located at the University of Arkansas and Arizona State University.”  See the in-store video

“Lowe’s execs jet to Australia to stem joint venture bleeding” by Eli Greenblat at Sydney Morning Herald.  “Top executives from US hardware giant Lowe’s, believed to include its chairman and CEO Robert Niblock, have flown to Australia for meetings with its Masters hardware joint venture partner Woolworths as the start-up chain continues to lose millions of dollars and miss its earnings targets.  BusinessDay has learned that a board meeting of the Masters joint venture will be held in Melbourne tomorrow, with directors from Lowe’s and Woolworths touring a number of Masters stores in the south east suburbs including its store in Hawthorn East where the key meeting will take place.”  Read more

“Ace Hardware profits jump” at Chicago Business Journal.  “Oak Brook-based Ace Hardware Corp. said it earned $42.3 million in the second quarter, up from $14.9 million, a year earlier when it took a $19.9 million charge from the early extinguishment of debt. Revenue for the quarter rose 9.7 percent to $1.2 billion.  “Sales increased in virtually every department with significant growth at both wholesale and retail from our Discovery Edge, Level 3 merchandising re-sets and branding initiatives,” Ace President and Chief Executive John Venhuizen said in a statement.”  Read more

“Macy’s misses Wall Street estimates; shares tumble” at CNBC.  “Revenue at stores open a year, a key metric because it strips out the impact of newly opened and closed locations, slid 0.8 percent.  Macy’s, based in Cincinnati, now expects sales at stores open at least a year to climb between 2 percent and 2.9 percent, down from its previous guidance of a 3.5 percent increase.”  Read more

“Walmart Puts Pressure on DC Pols via Web & Tweet”  ““There is nothing to be gained by hurrying up here…” said D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson about moving the Large Retailer Accountability Act to the Mayor’s desk. We disagree. Residents who live in underserved neighborhoods or areas with high unemployment deserve clarity regarding the future of economic development projects in their city.”  Read more

“Rona posts loss, hurt by charges, tough markets” at Reuters.  “Canada’s largest home-improvement retailer and distributor, reported a wider-than-expected second-quarter loss on Wednesday, weighed down by restructuring costs and tough market conditions…Revenue fell 4.6 percent to C$1.25 billion, while comparable store sales dropped 1 percent. Store closures reduced revenue by C$35.1 million.”  Read more

“Learn the Secret Price Codes for Staples” by Melanie Pinola at Lifehacker.  “On all price tags there is a one-letter codes (A, I, C, F, R, P) that designates what pricing group the item is in.  Regular priced items:  A stands for active items, they are items that are at regular price or special weekly prices (red tags).  I stands for Inactive items, this is the first step down from Active, it almost never has a discount but signals that the item is either being replaced soon from the vendor with an updated product, is not going to be carried anymore.”  See all the price codes

“Shopping is a ‘loop of loneliness,’ study finds” by Ben Popken at CNBC.  “It turns out there are three types of materialists in this world—and for one of them, shopping is a “virtuous” cycle that actually decreases loneliness over time.  For the study, a sample of more than 2,500 consumers over six years were asked how much they agreed with statements, such as: “It sometimes bothers me quite a bit that I can’t afford to buy all the things I like,” and “I enjoy buying things that are not practical.” Study author Rik Pieters, a marketing professor at the Tilburg University in the Netherlands, then placed the shoppers in different materialist buckets and tested them for loneliness.”  Read more

“Why Teens are MIA in the Retail World” at by Kathryn Buschman Vasel at Fox Business.  “When it comes to either getting the latest gadget or the hottest fashion trend, tech wins with this generation, says Crawford. “Technology is priority No.1 with teens, they will spend the bulk of their money on one big item.”  Bentz agrees, saying that when it comes to being “cool” in this environment, it’s all about what’s in your hand. “Tech is the new fashion statement, it used to be having the A&F hoodie and wearing multiple tank tops, now it’s how much tech you have: do you have the latest iPhone, tablet, or Beats headphones.”  Read more

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