"Wal-Mart Stores' CEO Presents at 20th Annual Goldman Sachs Global Retailing Conference" Read the Transcript (Via Seeking Alpha) See the PowerPoint / Hear the Webcast   "Highlights from Wal-Mart Presentation at Goldman Sachs Retail Conference" by Kim Souza at City Wire.  "Wal-Mart also is using more stores to fill online orders, after piloting that program in recent months. He said the number of stores filling online orders are in the double digits and growing. The locker tests have also been well received as Simon told investors it’s been interesting to see the users’ inclinations to repeat purchases."  Read more   [...]

  "Home Depot Is Accused of Shaking Down Suspected Shoplifters" by Susan Berfield at Businessweek.  "Jimin Chen received two worrisome letters this summer. Both came from a law firm hired by Home Depot. The first demanded payment of $350 to settle claims that he shoplifted from a California store.  According to Chen, in early June he had been wrongly accused of taking two pairs of work gloves (priced at $3.99 each) as he purchased nearly $1,500 worth of merchandise from Home Depot. A second letter demanded $625. Both helpfully included five ways he could pay, and both threatened legal action [...]

  "It's on! Wal-Mart & Sam's ratchet up smartphone turf war" by Courtney Reagan at CNBC.  "The world's largest retailer is expected to unveil details of the largest brick-and-mortar smartphone trade-in program in the U.S., just in time for the anticipated new iPhones.  Starting Sept. 21 in more than 3,600 Walmart stores and Sam's Club locations, consumers can get an instant credit, ranging from $50 to $300, for the trade-in value for more than 100 smartphones. That credit will then be immediately applied to the purchase of a new smartphone." Read more   "Lim line at Target gets an unexpected [...]

  "Target to Open First Stores in Quebec and Nova Scotia" at Digital Journal. "The stores are scheduled to open this fall, and include 14 opening on Sept. 17 and nine opening on Oct. 18. Target currently has 68 stores open across Canada with plans to open a total of 124 locations by the end of 2013."  See list of locations   "Report: Neiman Marcus in advanced talks for $6 billion sale" at Star-Tribune.  "Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus Inc. is reportedly in talks to be bought by Los Angeles-based asset manager Ares Management LLP and the Canada Pension Plan Investment [...]

  "Home Depot CEO says company is a 'very North American business' " at CNBC.  "Frank Blake confirmed his company's decision to pull out of the Chinese market last September.  "Not that China isn't a great market, but we didn't have the answer for the Chinese market and in particular understanding the needs of the Chinese consumer and how we could use our distribution strength to provide them better value," he said."We just never could solve that problem."  Though Home Depot has strong operations in Canada and Mexico, Blake called the company "a very North American business" and said it [...]

  "Costco Same-Store Sales Jump 4% in August" - Company Press Release.  "Costco today reported net sales of $7.95 billion for the month of August, the four weeks ended September 1, 2013, an increase of seven percent from $7.44 billion during the similar period last year.  For the 16-week fourth quarter, the Company reported net sales of $31.8 billion, an increase of one percent compared to net sales of $31.5 billion in the 17-week fourth quarter of fiscal year 2012."  Read more   "Costco's August same-store sales beat estimates" at Reuters.  "Sales at stores open at least a year rose 4 percent, [...]

  "Target Nears Debut Of Streaming Video Service" by Jake Anderson at Twin Cities Business.  "Hints about the new service, called Target Ticket, appeared earlier this year on an online login page, which indicates that the platform is in beta mode and requires a promotional code and “Team Member ID” number to access it.  But technology news outlet TechCrunch recently obtained documents that were reportedly distributed to Target employees—and that indicate that the new service is nearing its official rollout."  Read more   "Lowe’s Names McDermott SVP/General Merchandising Manager, Building and Maintenance"  "Michael P. McDermott will join the company as [...]

  "Sears Hometown profit tumbles 57%" at Chicago Tribune.  "The company, which spun off from Sears last year, earned $9.1 million, or 40 cents per share, off from $21.1 million, or 91 cents per share, a year earlier.  Revenue rose 2.2 percent, to $656.9 million, on a small increase in sales at established stores and a boost from new store openings."  Read more   "Harris Teeter to employees: Let’s keep unions out" by Ely Portillo at Charlotte Observer.  "Harris Teeter’s top executives are warning the grocer’s employees about unions after its acquisition by Kroger Co., a supermarket company whose workforce [...]