"Costco Same-Store Sales Up 3% in October - Beats Street" at Reuters. "Sales at stores open at least a year rose 3 percent in the four-week period ended Nov. 3, including the impact of fuel sales and foreign exchange.  On that basis, analysts expected same-store sales to rise 2.6 percent for the month of October, according to Thomson Reuters data."  Read more   "Costco Reports October Sales Results" (Company Release) "Costco today reported net sales of $8.15 billion for the month of October, the four weeks ended November 3, 2013, an increase of six percent from $7.66 billion during [...]

  "Survey: Six fewer days between Thanksgiving & Christmas could cost retailers $1.5 billion" by Amrita Jayakumar at Washington Post.  "There are six fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, the shortest holiday season in more than a decade.  That could cost retailers $1.5 billion in lost sales, according to a report released Tuesday, in another signal of the high stakes for stores the holiday season.  That is one reason “holiday creep” started earlier this year, analysts said."  Read more   "How Walmart Brought Low-Cost LEDs To The Mass Market" by Peter Kelly-Detwiler at Forbes. "I asked John Prince, [...]

   "Breaking:  CVS Earnings Beat Street" at CNBC.  "CVS Caremark Corp posted higher quarterly profit and raised its forecast for the year on Tuesday, as sales grew at its drugstore chain and it processed more prescriptions."  Read more   "Wal-Mart managers struggle to capture Millennials" by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  "“My team has dug into this, and I personally can’t see what this group is doing. There are great differences between the oldest and youngest in this generation. I understand them until they get to be about 27 with regard to how they shop and what they do,” [...]

  "Jim Cramer: Costco Is a Game Changer" at The Street.  "Costco's selling $1,000 Versace handbags for $500. The store just got in some killer Italian ties that look no different from the Ferragamos I wear, for 1/10 of what I pay for the name brand...There's enough selection now -- much more than I have ever seen -- and enough famous brands, as well as the Kirkland private-label version, that I think Costco may actually be helping to reorder the apparel universe."  Read more   "Peapod who? Online grocer shows Amazon, Walmart how it's done" by Donna Tam at CNET. [...]

  "Walmart kicks off online holiday deals today" by Dhanya Skariachan at Reuters.  "Wal-Mart is kicking off its online deals on Friday, a month earlier than usual - underscoring worries that intense discounting aimed at luring budget-conscious shoppers could result in the most tepid holiday spending rise in four years...Morgan Stanley analyst Kimberly Greenberger expects this holiday season to be the most promotional one since 2008. She sees ecommerce accounting for about 12 to 13 percent of overall holiday retail sales versus last year's 11 percent."  Read more   "Target Pins Its  Hopes on Pinterest This Holiday Season" by Christine [...]

  "Target Backs Off $100 Billion Sales Goal" by Paul Ziobro at WSJ.  "Target Corp. backed off its goal for hitting $100 billion in sales by the end of 2017, as pressure on low-income shoppers and tough competition from rivals like Amazon.com Inc. weigh on results.  The retreat, made Wednesday during a meeting with analysts in Toronto, comes during a tough year for Target and other discounters." Read more   "Target Canada Rollout Not Going as Planned" by Tom Webb at Twin Cities Business.  "Initial sales in Canada have fallen well short of expectations," CEO Gregg Steinhafel told analysts Wednesday. [...]

  "Walmart  CEO Appears on CNBC"  by Matthew Belvedere at CNBC.  "The 16-day government shutdown earlier this month was a drag on Wal-Mart sales, particularly around military bases and areas with high concentrations of federal workers, said Bill Simon, president and CEO of the retail giant's U.S. operations.  "That sort of level of conversation and combativeness in Washington creates uncertainty in the economy," Simon told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday."  Read more / See the video   "How Walgreen's Went from Zero to 85 Million Loyalty Members" by Kate Kaye at Ad Age.  "The single largest [challenge] was the replacement [...]

  "Walmart Shutters Goodies Subscription Service" by Katie Evans at Internet Retailer.  "The Goodies Co., a subscription service from @WalmartLabs that launched as a test late last year, announced on its site that it is shuttering its operations. Goodies subscribers received a surprise box of food items at their doorsteps once a month for $7 a pop including taxes and shipping."  Read more   "Target to open 33 more stores next month in Canada" by John Ewoldt at Star-Tribune.  "Target announced Monday that it will open 33 more stores in Canada next month, bringing the total number of Canadian stores [...]