"Home Depot US Same-Store Sales Jump 11.4% in Q2"   "The Home Depot today reported sales of $22.5 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2013. On a like for like basis, comparable store sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2013 were positive 10.7 percent, and comp sales for U.S. stores were positive 11.4 percent. Total sales increased 9.5 percent from the second quarter of fiscal 2012."  Read Home Depot's Earnings Release   "Home Depot Earnings Call Webcast: Listen Live Today at 9am ET"  Webcast Link   "Home Depot reaps benefits from U.S. housing rebound" at Reuters.  "A [...]

  The Week Ahead:  Retailers set to Release Earnings: Tue:  Home Depot, Best Buy Wed: Lowe's, Target Thur: Sears Read more   "Trader Joe's Sues Man for Reselling Products in Canada" by Patricia Yollin at San Fran Chronicle.  "Michael Hallatt has spent more than $350,000 at Trader Joe's in less than two years. But the popular grocery chain doesn't ever want to see him again.  "I'm their best customer," he said with a mix of pride and indignation.  Every week, the former Bay Area resident drives his panel van across the border to buy a few thousand dollars worth of [...]

  "AmazonFresh is Jeff Bezos' Last Mile Quest for Total Retail Domination" by J.J. McCorvey at Fast Company.  "By expanding grocery delivery, Amazon hopes to transform monthly customers to weekly--or even thrice-weekly--customers. And that, in turn, will produce the kind of order volume that makes same-day delivery worth investing in. "Think of the synergy between Prime, same-day delivery, and Fresh," says Furphy. "When all of those things start working in concert, it can be a very beautiful thing."  Read more   "Walmart Q2 Earnings Call Transcript" at Seeking Alpha.  Read more   "Facebook to Test Its Own PayPal Competitor in [...]

  "Wal-Mart U.S. same-store sales slip 0.3 percent" at Reuters.  "Wal-Mart Stores Inc posted disappointing quarterly U.S. sales on Thursday as shoppers pinched by higher payroll taxes and gas prices made fewer trips to its stores.  Same-store sales at Walmart U.S, the company's biggest unit, fell 0.3 percent. Wall Street analysts were expecting a 1 percent gain, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S."  Read more   "Mini-Walmart opens on Georgia Tech campus" by Rebekka Schramm at CBS Atlanta.  "The store is located just across the interstate from Tech's main campus. It occupies a 2,500 square feet space. That's a fraction of [...]

  "Walgreens & drugstores expand into brow waxing, beer on tap" by Tom Murphy at AP via Seattle Times.  "At some Walgreen stores, there are health clinics staffed by nurse practitioners, cafes that sell barista-prepared coffee and Eyebrow Bars where professionals groom unruly facial hair.  Oh, and pharmacists fill prescriptions, too.  The nation’s major drugstore chains are moving beyond drugs and Kleenex."  Read more   "Why Is Amazon Hiring for a Secret New Jersey Warehouse?" by Jason Del Ray at All Things D.  "Has Amazon taken a big step toward bringing its AmazonFresh grocery delivery business to the New York [...]

  "Will Dollar General Buy Family Dollar?" at Charlotte Observer.  "A deal for Dollar General buying Family Dollar would make "compelling strategic sense," said a Credit Suisse analyst last week. Tennessee-based Dollar General could pay between $90 and $100 a share for Family Dollar, a significant premium to its $71.XX closing price on Friday. And a Citigroup analyst said last month that the chances of a Family Dollar buyout are 50-50."  Read more   "Walmart to Open Third Campus Store Tomorrow in Atlanta" at The Shelby Report.  "Walmart will open its third “Walmart on Campus” store on Aug. 14 at [...]

    "Rona restructuring hampered by weather and cautious consumers" by Marina Strauss at The Globe & Mail.  "Rona Inc. is sparring with major home improvement retail rivals in a battle that has seen U.S. heavyweight Home Depot Inc. emerge as a winner as they all grapple with cautious home renovation spending.  Under new leadership, Rona is now racing to close unprofitable outlets, shrink its work force, restock shelves and lower some prices."  Read more   "Snowden’s Saga May Impact Flower Sales at Sam's Club" by Ben Pollock at The City Wire.  "Ecuador renounced a trade pact with the U.S. [...]

  "Wal-Mart versus Amazon: Price isn’t everything" by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  "Wal-Mart, Walmart.com and Amazon were recently part of an annual pricing study that looked a full basket of goods - Wal-Mart’s supercenter offered the greatest value with a total price of $853.08. The identical products cost $924.74 at Walmart.com, some 8% more expensive than at the supercenter. Shoppers who purchased the same basket at Amazon would have paid $985.49, which was 7% more expensive than Walmart.com and 16% more costly than at the supercenter."  Read more   "Retailers appeal to back-to-school shoppers online" by Tiffany Hsu at [...]