CVS Reports Q3 Results – Trims Outlook “Pharmacy same store sales rose 3.4% and pharmacy same store prescription volumes rose 3.0% on a 30-day equivalent basis…Front store same store sales decreased 1.0%, which
were negatively affected by softer customer traffic.” Press release

 

…Fox Business: CVS Cuts Profit Forecast, Shares Fall “CVS cut its 2016 adjusted earnings forecast to $5.77-$5.83 per share from its prior forecast of $5.81-$5.89 per share.” Read more

 

YESTERDAY – Sam’s Club CEO Brewer discusses holiday deals in exclusive Facebook Live event See the video

 

Target hires supply chain exec from Walmart by Dan DeBaun at Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal. “(Target) named Shekar Natarajan for the newly created role of senior vice president, network planning and operational design. Natarajan will oversee design of the company’s direct-to-store and direct-to-customer supply chain systems…Natarajan most recently was vice president of last mile operations, emerging sciences and operational excellence at Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart.” Read more

 

PetSmart Adds Same-Day Delivery in Battle With Amazon by Leena Rao at Fortune. “PetSmart says that its new delivery service is available now in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco, San Jose, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Miami, Seattle, and Chicago. By mid-November, the new delivery service will be available in eight additional metro area.” Read more

 

Lumber Liquidators Promotes Dennis Knowles to CEO “Mr. Knowles joined the Company in March 2016 as Chief Operating Officer…Mr. Knowles previously served in store operations leadership roles at Lowe’s Companies, Inc. since 2001, most recently as Chief Store Operations Officer.” Press release

 

Amazon opens second huge office building at new Seattle campus by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “The 36-story tower, which is flanked by a trifecta of glass and steel orbs still under construction, officially opened (yesterday).” Read more

 

Seasonal retail jobs taking a hit this holiday season by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “Retail employment in October fell 21 percent, to 154,600, from a year ago, or the steepest such decline in five years, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.” Read more

 

Marks & Spencer will close 60 stores in Britain and retreat from 10 countries at Bloomberg. “Reallocating floor space from food to clothing should boost sales in the short-term, but won’t address M&S’s inexorable slide towards fashion irrelevance,” said John Ibbotson, an analyst at consultant Retail Vision.” Read more

 

**A message from Black Flag® – We take no prisoners. In the battle against indoor and outdoor pests, it’s every man for himself. Arm yourself with Black Flag insect and rodent controls. Our tough, no-nonsense formulas are packed with a powerful punch to make short work of home insect invaders. Whether you’re battling crawling, flying or stinging insects or fending off mice, when the flag flies, pests die. Let it Fly. How to protect your home with Sarge video | Facebook page

 

Gap Q3 Comp Sales -3.0% “Comp Sales: Gap Global – negative 8%, Banana Republic Global – negative 8 percent, Old Navy Global – positive 3 percent.” Press release

 

HSN hires longtime Walmart exec Carmen Bauza as EVP and head merchant “Ms. Bauza spent the past ten years as a senior leader at Walmart, most recently serving as the senior vice president for their consumables, health and wellness merchandising division, which includes baby consumables, OTC and optical and chemical and paper goods.” Press release

 

Wal-Mart Pay in talks with several mobile wallet companies by Nandita Bose at Reuters. Read more

 

Online jeweler Blue Nile sold to private equity firms for $500M; stock soars by Greg Lamm at Puget Sound Business Journal. “Blue Nile stockholders will receive $40.75 in cash per share, which is 34 percent more Blue Nile’s closing stock price on Nov. 4.” Read more

 

Wayfair Q3 Direct Retail Revenue Growth of $287.4 million, up 52.7% Press release

 

Mall Landlords Dive Deeper Into Retail Assets by Esther Fung at Wall Street Journal. “Investors are trying to figure out how much of this is reactionary or defensive and how much of it is to push the quality of the portfolio. We’re in the middle of the transition,” said D.J. Busch, an analyst at Green Street Advisors, a real-estate research firm.” Read more (subscription)

 

Amazon to Pay De Niro $850k Per/Episode for New TV Series by Elizabeth Wagmeister at Variety. Read more

 

600 line up at Macy’s to see Chicago Cubs infielder by Ally Marotti at Chicago Tribune. “Die-hard Chicago Cubs fans waited in line — some of them since Sunday — outside Macy’s on State Street Monday morning, hoping to get the chance to meet Javier Baez and get his autograph.” In-store video / Read more

 

Amazon might be starting a service to clean the homes of Amazon Prime members by Angel Gonzalez at Seattle Times. “Two Seattle job postings for concierge-like “home assistants” on Amazon’s website suggest so. They call for potential recruits to join “Amazon Assistants,” which the company describes as “experts in helping Amazon customers keep up their home.” Read more

 

Saks Fifth Avenue Transforms into a Land of 1000 Delights Press release

 

Google Shopping prices often beat Amazon’s by James Melton at Internet Retailer. “An analysis of 750 products by price monitoring firm 360pi finds Amazon’s price is lower than those advertised by merchants on Google Shopping only 25% of the time.” Read more

 

CST Brands Reports Q3 2016 Net Income of $260 million Press release

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Ikea Built a Room in One of Its Stores to Look Like a Damaged Home in Syria

Why Rachael Ray Cooked Up a Batch of Home Furnishings She Actually Designed Herself

Toblerone changes triangles on its chocolate bars upsetting consumers

Victoria’s Secret’s ‘bombshell’: Cleavage is passe

PetSmart Launches New and Improved PetSmart.com

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

QUICK-SUBSCRIBE to Eye on Retail Tipsheet here