“Dollar General Beats Walmart for ‘Cheapest Basket’ “ at Kantar Retail “Dollar General’s total basket was the least expensive among retailers surveyed, edging out Walmart Supercenter’s basket by just $0.12.  This represents a substantial closing of the gap in the survey conducted last year, when Dollar General’s basket of OPP items was 18% cheaper than Walmart’s. The edible grocery and HBA sub-baskets drove Dollar General’s basket lead over Walmart.”  See the list

 

“Costco Has Room For Growth In Mexico” at Seeking Alpha.  “Costco started its operations in Mexico through a 50% owned joint venture, and its store count had been stagnant for the past four-five years. However, the warehouse retailer acquired the remaining 50% stake from its partner last year and has opened one store since. Costco plans to add another store in the current quarter and we expect it to continue expanding in Mexico in the future.”  Read more 

 

“UPS predicts ‘record’ holiday season” by Kyle Stock at SF Gate.  “The company estimates it will handle 4 percent more U.S. packages over the holidays, thanks, in part, to an expected 15 percent increase in online retail orders.  “We expect this year’s holiday season will be another for the record books, as we pick up more than 34 million packages on our peak day.”  Read more

 

“Target to ban criminal history box on job applications” by Janet Moore at Star-Tribune.  “The initiative, part of a budding “Ban the Box” movement across the country, calls for employers to wait until a prospective employee is being interviewed or has a provisional job offer before inquiring whether he or she has a criminal past.”  Read more

 

“Petco Opens First Store in Mexico”  “Petco has opened its first store in Mexico and announced plans for continued expansion in Mexico and Latin America through a previously announced joint venture with Grupo Gigante of Mexico.  Together, the companies plan to open as many as 50 Petco stores in Mexico and Latin America by 2020. Terms of the joint venture were not disclosed.”  Read more

 

“Former Sears Canada CEO to head Sephora’s North American arm” at Globe & Mail.  “The former CEO of Sears Canada, Calvin McDonald, has been named to the top job in North America at beauty giant Sephora.  McDonald resigned abruptly from Sears Canada last month in the middle of the retailer’s three-year turnaround plan.”  Read more

 

“Disney to open massive China store” at Reuters via CNBC.  “Walt Disney Co. said it plans to open its first China store in Shanghai, expected to be its largest ever, underscoring the need to cater to the nation’s growing middle class.”  Read more

 

“Sherwin-Williams Net Sales Jump 9.4%”  “Net sales in the Paint Stores Group increased 13.5% to $1.76 billion in the quarter and increased 9.0% to $4.54 billion in nine months due primarily to higher architectural paint sales volume across all end market segments. Net sales from stores open for more than twelve calendar months increased 10.9% in the quarter.”  Read more

 

“Holiday 2013: Five Trends To Watch” by Laura Heller at Forbes.  “Self-gifting is on the decline. Shoppers will cut back on impulse buys for themselves, according to another interesting tidbit from the NRF annual holiday survey. Shoppers have gotten better at sticking to a budget and treating themselves to something because the deals are too good to pass up.”  Read more

 

Follow @retaileyeretail