October pending home sales fall unexpectedly, as high prices take their toll on buyers at CNBC. "Pending home sales fell 1.1% month-to-month in October but were 20.2% higher compared with October 2019...“The housing market is still hot, but we may be starting to see rising home prices hurting affordability,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors." Read more   Black Friday shopping in stores craters 52% at CNBC. "For the six key weeks of the holiday season this year, traffic in retail stores is expected to be down 22% to 25% year over year, an [...]

  Dick's Sporting Goods Q3 comp sales up 23.2% / Ecom +95% Press release   ...Lauren R. Hobart named President and CEO "Ms. Hobart brings more than 25 years of finance, consumer and retail experience and spent 14 years at PepsiCo in various leadership roles before she joined Dick's as Chief Marketing Officer in 2011. She was appointed President in 2017...Edward W. Stack, Chairman and CEO, will assume the role of Executive Chairman and continue as Chief Merchant on February 1, 2021.  He also will oversee key strategic growth initiatives for the company." Press release    Walmart de Mexico says [...]

  Walmart corporate employees to work remotely until July 5, 2021 at Talk Business. "According to the memo, (Chief People Officer) Morris said its longer-term view is that it is important for employees to work together in campus offices for the majority of the organization. Morris said working on campus is important to the culture and it aids in collaboration, innovation and speed." Read more | Corporate memo   Retailers Cut Back on Choices; ‘We Don’t Need Three Types of Red’ at Wall Street Journal. "The wider the assortment, the more confused the customer is,” Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. [...]

  BJ's Wholesale Club Q3 comp sales (ex-gas) up 18.5% "Adjusted EBITDA increased by 57.1% year-over-year to $242.2 million, for the third quarter of fiscal 2020." Press release   October existing home sales see ‘spectacular’ 26.6% annual gain even with short supply and surging prices at CNBC. "There were 1.42 million existing homes on the market at the end of October, a 19.8% drop compared with October 2019. At the current sales pace, that represents a 2.5-month supply, the lowest on record." Read more   Macy's Q3 comp sales down 21% Press release   Ace Hardware Q3 US comp sales [...]

  Target Q3 comp sales +20.7% / Store +9.9% / Digital +155% Press release   ...Target blows past expectations at Fox Business. "Sales increased across all categories with electronics growing more than 50%, home up in the mid-20% range and apparel increasing by almost 10%. The average ticket rose 15.6% from a year ago. Overall, the company said it won $6 billion of market share." Read more   ...Brian Cornell @ CNBC's "Squawk Box" this morning "Cornell would not name retailers that it’s taking market share from, but pointed to the company’s numbers saying they “compare very favorably to our [...]

  Home Depot Q3 comp sales up 24.1% (!) / US comp +24.6% Press release   ...Home Depot is building a banner year, 3Q numbers stun at AP. "Revenue totaled $33.54 billion for the three months ended Nov. 1, topping the $31.83 billion that analysts polled by FactSet predicted...making temporary financial support programs for its frontline, hourly employees, such as a weekly bonus program, permanent. The value of that program is being put at about $1 billion on an annualized basis." Read more   Walmart Q3 comp sales up 6.4% / Sam's Club comp +11.1% / Walmart Int'l net sales [...]

  Home Depot Announces Agreement to Acquire HD Supply "The Home Depot will commence a cash tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of HD Supply common stock for $56 per share, for a total enterprise value (including net cash) of approximately $8 billion." Press release   Amazon Black Friday Deals Week Starts Friday, November 20 "Starting Friday, November 20 through Black Friday on November 27, Amazon will release tens of thousands of deals with deep discounts and incredibly low prices, including thousands of holiday deals from small businesses." Press release   Walmart releases Black Friday ad at USA Today. [...]

  Walmart is placing "pop-up" e-commerce fulfillment centers inside dozens of its regional distribution facilities at Fox Business. "The 42 sites will hold fast-moving items in sections of warehouses that are traditionally used to ship pallets of goods to Walmart stores. The network of pop-up sites will ship up to 30% of Walmart's online holiday volume..." Read more   Instacart taps Goldman Sachs to lead IPO at $30B valuation at Fox Business. "Instacart is accelerating its IPO plans after voters in California backed a ballot proposal last week that upheld the status of app-based delivery drivers as independent contractors." Read [...]