"Family Dollar CEO Said to Guard Job" by Shelly Banjo at WSJ.  "Dollar General said the chief executive of Family Dollar Stores, Howard Levine, shrugged off multiple requests to pursue a merger between the country's two largest dollar chains out of fear he would have to step down as CEO, according to a letter sent to Family Dollar's board of directors late Wednesday." Read more   WSJ: "Shopper Malaise Hangs Over Target" by Paul Ziobro & Anna Prior. "Target posted a 62% drop in earnings for the fiscal second quarter ended Aug. 2, as losses in Canada continued and [...]

  "Lowe's Q2 Comp Sales +4.4%" "Lowe's reported net earnings of $1.04 billion for the quarter ended August 1, 2014, a 10.4 percent increase over the same period a year ago...Fiscal Year 2014 outlook:  total sales are expected to increase approximately 4.5 percent, comparable sales are expected to increase approximately 3.5 percent, expects to open approximately 10 home improvement and 5 hardware stores." Read the release   CNBC's Headline: "Lowe's profit tops estimates; trims sales guidance" "Lowe's delivered second-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street's expectations, but the retailer trimmed its outlook for full-year sales growth. Lowe's shares sank in premarket trading following the report." [...]

  "Home Depot Q2 Earnings Beat Street" at CNBC.  "Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement chain, reported a 5.7 percent rise in quarterly sales as customers spent more on home repairs after a severe North American winter...Revenue increased to $23.81 billion from $22.52 billion a year ago. Wall Street had expected the retailer to deliver second-quarter earnings of $1.45 a share on $23.61 billion in revenue." Read more   "Home Depot's Q2 US Comp Sales +6.4%" "The Home Depot today reported sales of $23.8 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2014, a 5.7 percent increase from the second quarter of fiscal 2013. Comparable store [...]

  "Dollar General makes rival $9.7B bid for Family Dollar (Dollar General CEO would stay on until 2016)" by Andrew Ross Sorkin at CNBC.  "Dollar General's offer of $78.50 a share in cash is higher than the $74.50 a share in cash and stock bid made by Dollar Tree on July 28. If a Dollar General-Family Dollar tie up goes through, the combined company would have 20,000 stores in 46 states, with sales of $28 billion." See the video / Read more   Dollar General Press Release: "The transaction would create the preeminent small-box retailer in the U.S. based on store locations, [...]

  "Who’s Afraid of Amazon? Not Costco, Says Craig Jelinek" by Nina Shapiro at Seattle Weekly.  "I called Jelinek this week to ask him what’s going on...“We’re going to open about 30 Costcos a year,” Jelinek says...the Issaquah retailer is dabbling in some kind of online delivery service through Uber..."They come in to buy from us sometime,” says Jelinek, who then has second thoughts about making this revelation, adding that he’s not prepared to say any more. And yet, Jelinek does not seem particularly exercised about ramping up Costco’s e-commerce, nor worried about the threat from Amazon. “It has not [...]

  Walmart & Sam's Comp Sales Flat for Q2.  Q2 Highlights: * Consolidated net sales for the second quarter were $119.3 billion, an increase of 2.8 percent over last year. * Walmart U.S. comp traffic decreased 1.1 percent, while average ticket increased 1.1 percent. * E-commerce sales positively impacted comp sales by approximately 0.3 percent. * Excluding fuel, Sam’s Club comp traffic was up 0.3 percent, and average ticket was down 0.3 percent.  * Comp sales for the Neighborhood Market format rose approximately 5.6 percent. * Walmart International grew net sales 3.1 percent to $33.9 billion. *  Forecasted earnings per share from continuing operations for the full year [...]

  Target's New Canada Boss, Mark Schindele, Sits Down for Interviews...   "New head of Target Canada plots his course to a turnaround" by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail. "It makes me feel terrible where we’re disappointing our guests [customers] where we have an empty shelf,” Mr. Schindele said in an interview on Tuesday at the Toronto office of the retailer’s public relations firm, decorated in Target’s trademark red and white hues. “We see less of that than we have in the past but we know we still have work to do.” Read more   "Target Canada president aims to ‘reset’ [...]

  "Dollar Tree pursued Family Dollar months before Icahn push" by Rick Rothacker at Charlotte Observer. "Dollar Tree first contacted Family Dollar Stores about a possible acquisition in late February, months before investor Carl Icahn began pushing for a Family Dollar sale, according to a securities filing Monday...The Morgan Stanley banker who fielded the initial call said Family Dollar CEO Howard Levine would be willing to talk to Dollar Tree counterpart Bob Sasser, but noted Family Dollar wasn’t for sale." Read more   "Gander Mountain rolls out in-store pickup for online orders" by Nick Halter at Charlotte Bus. Journal.  "The [...]