Costco Will Raise Minimum Wage by Shannon Pettypiece at Bloomberg. “(Costco) will start paying at least $13-to-$13.50 an hour, up from $11.50-to-$12 an hour, the company said Thursday in a conference call with analysts. The increase will cut its earnings per share in the next three months by 1 cent, and by 2 cents in the following three quarters.” Read more

 

Wal-Mart de Mexico Reports Solid February Sales Growth via Dow Jones Business News. “Walmex’s February sales were helped by the month having an additional day this year. Comparing similar four-week periods, total sales in Mexico rose 11% and same-store sales were 9.8% higher.” Read more

 

Target Canada nearing a deal with its key creditors by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail. “On Thursday, U.S. parent Target Corp. was ready to kick in an additional $30-million-plus for the former landlords, industry sources said. And the latest proposal would reduce the amount other unsecured creditors – mostly suppliers – would get by about 8 per cent of their proven claims from what they would have got in the original proposal, and directs those funds to the landlords, sources said.” Read more

 

Adidas to Open 3,000 Stores in China by 2020 by Laurie Burkitt at WSJ. “The German sportswear giant is expanding to 12,000 stores in China from its current 9,000 and aspires to more than double the cities where it sells its running gear and tennis shoes to 2,200-plus, said Adidas China head Colin Currie in a news briefing Friday.” Read more (subscription)

 

Meet Colleen McIntosh, SVP at CVS Health via New York Business Journal. “The most important life skill I learned was how to remain calm when the pressure was on and how to handle people. “Yes, but” is always a better answer than “No.” Read the Q&A

 

How Target fine-tunes merchandise for Chicago shoppers by Lauren Zumbach at Chicago Tribune. “But don’t expect to see local goods chainwide just yet. “We certainly like the results. But we don’t have the ability to roll this out everywhere and be successful,” said John Mulligan, Target’s chief operating officer.” Read more

 

Billionaire Vacation Homes – Jeff Bezos’ Beverly Hills Mansion via Forbes. “The Amazon founder and CEO’s extensive holdings include a $24.5 million Beverly Hills mansion purchased in 2007. Positioned on a two-acre lot behind Tom Cruise’s compound on North Alpine Drive.” See the pics

 

Walgreens Boots Alliance eyes Aussie pharmacies by Sue Mitchell at Sydney Morning Herald. “Walgreens Boots Alliance registered its trademark with IP Australia late last year and is looking at options to expand in Australia, including establishing a Boots franchise network and gaining distribution for its health and beauty brands in local pharmacies.” Read more

 

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PHOTOS – Saks Off Fifth opens first N.Y.C. store with champagne, Gilt boutique debut by Teresa Novellino at New York Business Journal. “A line to get into the store stretched down the block, and there were reportedly more than 1,000 Gilt members on a waiting list to get in.” See the 14 pics

 

‘Force Awakens’ Digital, DVD Release Dates and Bonus Footage Unveiled by Jon Blistein at Rolling Stone. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be available digitally on April 1st, while the special Blu-ray and DVD editions will arrive on April 5th…Target, Best Buy and Walmart will also stock different versions of the DVD and Blu-ray packages.” Read more

 

Kohl’s philanthropic giving hit nearly $51M in 2015 by Melanie Lawder at Milwaukee Business Journal. Read more

 

Gap February Comp Sales -2.0% “Comparable sales by brand: Gap Global: flat versus negative 7 percent last year,Banana Republic Global: negative 11 percent versus negative 5 percent last year, Old Navy Global: flat versus flat last year.” Read the release

 

Rite Aid February Comp Sales -0.8% “…front-end same store sales decreased 0.5 percent. Pharmacy same store sales…decreased 0.9 percent. Prescription count at comparable stores increased 1.4 percent.” Read the release

 

Owners of ALDI/Trader Joe’s see net worth climb to $20.3 billion, up from $19 billion a year ago via Forbes. Read more

 

Fred’s February Comp Sales +0.8% “Fred’s total sales for the month increased 12% to $171.1 million from $153.2 million in February 2015.” Read the release

 

Target Unlikely to Outsource other Departments by Brian Sozzi at The Street via Dallas Morning News. “I have thought about this a lot — the CVS partnership that was a great win for Target and a great win for CVS, it provided an opportunity to drive even more traffic to our stores, while re-directing our focus and attention to the categories that make Target what it is,” Target chairman and CEO Brian Cornell told TheStreet…Cornell added, “I don’t see other CVS-like opportunities on the horizon.” Read more

 

Kroger Q4 Earnings Call Transcript via Seeking Alpha. Read here

 

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