Walmart makes last-minute holiday push for procrastinators at CNBC. "This holiday season, the big-box retailer will qualify more items on Walmart.com for same-day pickup in stores than ever before, Walmart announced Friday." Read more   Sam’s Club, Your Store for Premium Goods and Rare Imports (in China) by Wayne Ma at Wall Street Journal. "We continue to explore the market” in China, Costco Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said. Eager to maintain its edge, Sam’s plans to “put our foot on the gas” in China by doubling the number of clubs to 40 by 2020, Mr. Miles said." Read [...]

  Surging online orders slow Wal-Mart delivery network by Eric M. Johnson & Nandita Bose at Reuters. "With massive volume going through our system, there were some orders that took extra time, much like other major e-commerce sites,” Wal-Mart spokeswoman Danit Marquardt said of the week of Thanksgiving. “A vast majority of orders are shipping on time now,” she added." Read more   Dollar General reveals 2,000 store plan - Q3 comp sales +4.3% "For fiscal 2018, we have plans to execute approximately 2,000 real estate projects comprised of 900 new stores, 1,000 store remodels and 100 store relocations." Press [...]

  Interior head says Patagonia claim about public land “a lie” by Matthew Daly at AP via Denver Post. "I understand fundraising for these special interest groups,” Zinke said. “I think it’s shameful and appalling that they would blatantly lie in order to gain money in their coffers.” Patagonia replaced its usual home page Monday night with a stark message declaring, “The President Stole Your Land.” Read more   Hudson's Bay Q3 Comp Sales -3.2% "On a constant currency basis, comparable sales at Saks Fifth Avenue grew for the second consecutive quarter, increasing by 0.2%. Comparable sales at Saks Fifth Avenue have been positive [...]

  Target launches its own mobile payments system with debut of ‘Wallet’ by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch. "Wallet, as the name implies, allows Target shoppers in-store to both check out using their smartphone as well as take advantage of their Cartwheel digital coupons and discounts with only one scan of their barcode." Read more   40% CHANCE OF CVS DEAL? - "Source: 'Considering that Aetna’s share price would be around $160 a share without a merger, the market is saying there is only a 40 percent chance the deal will get approved by regulators.'" by Josh Kosman at NY Post. [...]

  CVS and Aetna CEOs Talk Merger Deal on CNBC's Squawk Box "Upon closing, "they'll be things we'll be able to do out of the gate," Merlo told CNBC. "Over the next couple of years, you'll see a dramatic change in terms of the store not just being about products but also service offerings that can help people on their path to better health." CVS plans to run Aetna as a separate business unit." Video/Read more   ...CVS-Aetna Deal May Hinge on Antitrust Approach Under Trump at Bloomberg. "Most vertical deals don’t raise antitrust concerns, and the ones that do generally [...]

  CVS reportedly close to acquiring Aetna in $66B deal by Jessica Bartlett at Boston Business Journal. "The deal would likely be valued between $200 and $205 a share for Aetna, a premium of more than 25 percent, the Journal said." Read more | WSJ article (subs.)   Amazon is in exploratory talks with generic-drug makers by Meg Tirrell & Christina Farr at CNBC. "The conversations, including with generics giants Mylan and Sandoz, a unit of Novartis, have been high-level, and the nature of Amazon's plans isn't yet clear, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions aren't public." [...]

  Costco November Comp Sales +10.8% (+7.9% excluding gas & f/x) "Pre-Thanksgiving and Black Friday/holiday weekend sales fell into the first quarter this year compared to the second quarter last year. Combined, these factors produced an estimated net benefit of approximately 1.5% in the U.S., and slightly less worldwide." Press release   Kroger Q3 Comp Sales (ex-gas) +1.1% "Total sales increased 4.5% to $27.7 billion in the third quarter...Total sales, excluding fuel, increased 3.0% in the third quarter compared to the same period last year...Expects 2017 Q4 comp sales (ex-fuel) to exceed 1.1%." Press release   ...Reuters: Kroger's quarterly results top Street [...]

  What We Learned From Retailers’ Five-Day Scramble for Shoppers by Matthew Boyle & Lindsey Rupp at Bloomberg. "This was supposed to be the year that brands like Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors relied less on markdowns to move merchandise. But so far, the industry appears as discount-dependent as ever." Charts/Read more   GBH Insights has predicted the average Prime customer is spending 20 to 25 percent more on Amazon.com this holiday season at CNBC. Read more   Tiffany Q3 Comp Sales -1.0% Press release   ...Tiffany earnings: 80 cents a share, vs 76 cents EPS expected at CNBC. "Total revenue rose [...]