Kroger Q4 comp sales +1.8% (ex-fuel) “Grew digital sales 58%, expanded Pickup or Delivery to reach 91% of Kroger households.” Press release

 

…Kroger shares plunge 10% after earnings, revenue miss at CNBC. “Looking to fiscal 2019, the grocer is targeting same-store sales sales growth, excluding fuel, of between 2 and 2.25 percent.” Read more

 

Burlington Q4 comp sales +1.3% Press release

 

Charlotte Russe will close all of its stores and start liquidation by Kelly Tyko at USA Today. “The company, which also controls Peek children’s clothing stores, caters its items toward women’s fashion and has more than 500 stores in 49 states and Puerto Rico.” Read more

 

BJ’s Wholesale Q4 comp sales +2.9% (ex-gas) Press release

 

Amazon is shutting down all of its US kiosks in favor of expanding its physical stores by Dami Lee at The Verge. “The kiosks have also operated inside Kohl’s and Whole Foods stores, with new pop-ups opening up as recently as a few months ago. However, the sudden shutdowns show how abruptly the company is shifting its retail strategy toward expanding its larger physical stores and product offerings.” Read more | WSJ article (subs.)

 

Barnes & Noble Q3 comp sales +1.1% Press release

 

The Buckle Q4 comp sales -6.8% Press release

 

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Stage Stores Q4 comp sales -2.4% Press release

 

Axios Harris Poll 100 reputation rankings (Wegmans #1, Amazon #2, H.Depot #12, Costco #18, US Gov’t #100) Top 100 list

 

Walmart U.S. CEO Foran shares insights on growth opportunities, challenges, competitors by Kim Souza at Talk Business. “He said in plenty of towns around the country the Walmart and the Baptist church are likely to be the two nicest places in town. He quickly said that’s not true of Boston or Long Island, but it is true in other areas like Meridian, Miss., or Muskogee, Okla., or the south side of Chicago.” Read more

 

Forbes: Billionaires – The Richest People in the World (Bezos #1, Zuckerberg #8) List

 

Rent the Runway partnering with furniture retailer West Elm at CNBC. “Members will now be able to select from more than two dozen so-called bundles, each with three to four items, curated by West Elm. The items — meant to decorate bedrooms and living rooms — consist mostly of soft goods like quilts, shams and coverlets.” Read more

 

U.S. weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fall at Reuters. Read more

 

Amazon Is Flooding D.C. With Money and Muscle by Naomi Nix at Bloomberg. “Amazon is pushing aside trade groups it doesn’t like and creating new ones it does. It’s dispatching senior executives to woo antitrust enforcers. And it’s poaching senior staff from government agencies and congressional offices. Federal records show that Amazon.com Inc. lobbied more government entities than any other tech company in 2018.” Tiered subs.

 

Publix SVP, General Counsel and Secretary John Attaway to retire – Merriann Metz will replace Press release

 

Whole Foods reportedly cuts worker hours to make up for its new $15-an-hour wage at Fast Company. “Whole Foods refuted the claims of the workers and said: “Our full-time store Team Members averaged the same number of hours in January and February 2019 as they did during the same time last year.” Read more

 

Dollar Tree Appoints Carrie Wheeler to Its Board of Directors Press release

 

Dollar Tree CEO: We’re giving Family Dollar a ‘wow’ factor to draw customers at CNBC. “The company has invested $1 billion to renovate its Family Dollar stores to give it a “wow” factor and the entire enterprise was able to generate about $2 billion of cash flow, Philbin said in an interview on “Mad Money with Jim Cramer.” Video/Read more

 

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Amazon’s healthcare joint venture has a name — Haven

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Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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