“Costco Comp Sales +7% in August” “Costco reported net sales of $8.8 billion for the month of August, the four weeks ended August 31, 2014, an increase of ten percent from $8.0 billion during the similar period last year…For the 52-week fiscal year ended August 31, 2014, the Company reported net sales of $110.2 billion, an increase of seven percent from the $102.9 billion reported in fiscal year 2013.” Read the release

 

“Wal-Mart exec outlines growth strategy for Latin America” by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “We plan to grow sales in three ways: Focusing equally on same-store sales gains, adding square footage and more e-commerce transactions,” Rank said…In 2014, the retailer will open 149 stores in Mexico and Central America.” Read more  Listen to Webcast

 

“Costco to Pay $335,000 to Settle Clean Air Act Charges (+$2 Mil for Improvements)” by Tess Stynes at WSJ. “Costco will be required to retrofit or replace commercial refrigeration equipment at 30 stores. Costco also will be required to implement a refrigerant-management system to prevent and repair coolant leaks and reduce its corporate-wide average leak rate at least 20% by 2017.” Read more

 

San Francisco: “TargetExpress stores to land in Financial District and Berkeley” by Annie Sciacca at San Francisco Bus. Times. “The 18,000 square-foot store will open at the southwest corner of Bush and Sansome Streets, next to the Montgomery BART station, while the Berkeley store will be a smaller 12,000 square feet at Shattuck Avenue and Allston Way in the city’s downtown corridor.” Read more

 

“Report: Data shows most US Home Depots hit by breach” at CNBC. “(Brian Krebs) said he found new evidence that the breach first surfaced on the website Rescator, where customer credit cards were listed according to store ZIP code. These codes showed a 99.4 percent overlap with Home Depot stores, he said. In all, there were 1,939 codes corresponding to Home Depot store locations.” Read more

 

“Icahn scores $200 million profit in sale of Family Dollar stake (has sold all of his shares)” by Benjamin Snyder at Fortune. “It’s unknown when the billionaire investor sold his remaining stake. Reuters suggested that the sale may have meant Icahn didn’t expect Dollar General to bid for the company and perhaps sold too soon.” Read more

 

***A Message from Orchard Road Canning: Target Millennials to Grow Home Canning Sales.  Young female canners are the growth engine behind category growth – tap into the opportunity!  Orchard Road targets millennials with a simple and elegant glass jar design and unique package graphics that feature authentic food-filled jars.  See the package design. See the sell sheet. www.orchardroadcanning.com.  Contact info@shiftmarketinggroup.net for more information.

 

Cincinnati:  Bloomberg’s Moms Demand Action Runs Ads Slamming Kroger by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati.com. “The ads depict customers breaking Kroger rules with outside food, skateboards or dressed inappropriately – standing next to an armed shopper. A caption reads: ‘One of them isn’t welcome at Kroger. Guess which one.’ Smaller print explains Kroger’s policy against outside food, skateboards and dress, then asks: ‘So why would they allow this loaded gun?’ See the ad / Read more

 

Ablilene, TX: Former Walmart CEO Mike Duke at Distinguished Speaker Luncheon on Oct. 14th  Read more

 

“Long-time Amazon CFO To Retire Next Year” by Ryan Mac at Forbes. “On Wednesday, the Seattle company announced that the 12-year servant will retire next June and would be replaced by Brian Olsavsky, currently vice president of finance for Amazon’s global consumer business.” Read more

 

Yesterday: Dick’s Presents at Goldman Sachs Retail Conference  Webcast / Presentation

 

Today at Goldman Sachs Retail Conference:

Home Depot @ 10:35 AM ET  Webcast

Tractor Supply @ 11:20 AM ET  Webcast

Walmart International @ 12:20 PM ET  Webcast

 

‘El Mustachio The Magician’ Sought In Santa Cruz, California For Allegedly Robbing Costco by Ed Mazza at HuffPo. “Police in Santa Cruz, Calif., are looking for a mustachioed man they say repeatedly robbed a Costco store. They’ve given him the name “El Mustachio The Magician” for both his facial hair and “his ability to make Bose speakers disappear.” Read more / See the video

 

***

About Eye-on-Retail

Eye-on-Retail is a daily tipsheet read by thousands of Retail Merchants/Executives every weekday morning. Eye-on-Retail is unique because it’s timely, smart and fun. It’s created bright and early every morning and delivered between 7-8 am CT. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s really happening in the world of retail.