Friday’s Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet: Dollar Tree Up | Christmas in August | Walmart Summit
“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!