“Walmart CFO Charles Holley at Bank of America Conference: Think Small” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “Holley told the group that there was still room for hundreds, if not thousands more small format Wal-Mart stores. He added that the small formats offer fuel and pharmacy along with an in-store kiosk that allows shoppers to order any product Wal-Mart offers elsewhere.”…“You are going to see a lot more of these pick-up stations built here in the U.S.,” Holley said.”  Read more

 

“Charles Holley’s Presentation”  Listen to Webcast / See the PowerPoint

 

“Will Millennials Kill Costco?” by Brad Tuttle at Time via Fortune.  “Costco has a long way to go to reach millennials via the generation’s favorite mode of communication, social media: “Costco’s Facebook page has 1.1 million likes versus 22.7 million for Target and 34.5 million for Walmart.” Meanwhile, Costco’s Twitter page is reportedly inactive.”  Read more

 

“Dick’s Sporting Goods Same-Store Sales Up 7.3% in Q4”  “In Q4, the Company opened six new DICK’S Sporting Goods stores, one new True Runner store and closed three underperforming Golf Galaxy stores…As of February 1, 2014, the Company operated 558 DICK’S Sporting Goods stores in 46 states, with approximately 30.1 million square feet and 79 Golf Galaxy stores in 29 states, with approximately 1.4 million square feet.”  Read the release

 

“Dick’s Sporting Goods Plans 59 New Stores in ’14:  Field & Stream – 8, Dick’s – 50, Golf Galaxy – 1” by Teresa Lindeman at Pittsburgh Post Gazette.  “There are now two of the Field & Stream stores open, but the retailer plans to open eight more this year — one in the second quarter and seven in the third quarter…In addition to opening new Field & Stream stores, the company is planning to open about 50 Dick’s stores and one Golf Galaxy store.”  Read more

 

“Costco CEO Craig Jelinek Talks Strategy During Store-Walk (Helps a man lug a heavy bag into his cart, Says 4K TVs will Revive TV Sales)” by Erin Van Bronkhorst at Puget Sound Bus. Journal.  “Poor holiday sales and “treasure hunt” items were some of the topics when Costco CEO Craig Jelinek talked recently with Brad Goode of KOMO Television in Seattle.  The two men took a shopping cart and toured a Costco store for an “Inside the Costco Craze” segment.”  See the video / Read more

 

“IRI Announces Most Successful New Consumer Packaged Goods Brands of 2013 (Tide Pods & Yogurt are a Hit)”  “A whopping seven of the top 10, and 73 of the top 100 food and beverage products launched in 2013 offer a healthier-for-you benefit.”  See the Top 10 Lists for Food, Non-Food and C-store

 

“Safeway’s Low Deal Valuation Is Best It Can Get” by Brooke Sutherland at Bloomberg.  “Even if investors get the full price, the transaction will value Safeway at about 5.5 times its $1.6 billion in (Ebitda) in the last 12 months, less than the 9.9 median for similar-sized food-retail deals, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.  While the multiple is low compared to takeovers such as Kroger’s purchase of Harris Teeter Supermarkets Inc. this year at about 7 times Ebitda, it’s appropriate for Safeway, said Joseph Agnese of S&P Capital IQ.”  Read more

 

“Retailer’s Version of Winning the Lottery:  Trader Joe’s Moves in Next Door” by Steve Raabe at Denver Post.  “Our daytime sales have gone up noticeably,” said Crystal Nash, assistant manager of Silver Mine Subs just south of the grocer. “We’ve added another manager.”  But with more business comes the potential for problems — notably parking.”  Read more

 

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