Inside the Mad Dash to Save Saks, America’s Last Luxury Retailer at WSJ. "Chanel’s tab is $136 million. At Kering, the company behind Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, the bill is nearly $60 million. And those are just two of the many brands owed money by Saks Global—a list so long it stretched more than three pages in the bankruptcy filing that landed in a Houston court early Wednesday morning. Even though the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman was plainly veering toward bankruptcy in recent days, the filing was stunning in its sweep [...]

  December core consumer prices rose at a 2.6% annual rate, less than expected at CNBC. "Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the consumer price index showed a seasonally adjusted 0.2% gain on a monthly basis and 2.6% annually, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. Both were 0.1 percentage point below expectations." Read more   Target’s Stores Become an ICE Battleground in Hometown Minneapolis at WSJ. "...immigration officials detained two Target employees inside the vestibule of a suburban store late last week...Both are American citizens and were later released...Video of the incident quickly circulated, sparking an outcry on social-media [...]

  Costco December comp sales (ex fuel & f/x) +6.2%: US +6.3% / Canada +6.0% / Other Int'l +5.6% / Digitally Enabled +18.3% Press release   H-E-B and Market Basket Top dunnhumby’s Ninth Annual U.S. Grocery Rankings (Costco #4, Winco #6, Amazon #8) Top 10 list/Press release   Albertson's Companies Inc. Q3 ID sales +2.4% Press release   Walmart Opens Up Ads in Gen AI Shopping Agent Sparky at Adweek. "...(Walmart) is actively testing ads within Sparky, its AI shopping agent, after an initial test last fall. Sparky is an AI shopping assistant within Walmart’s mobile app...Search is the most popular [...]

  The Curious Cult of Aldi at Bloomberg. "A cross-section of Brooklynites stretched down several city blocks—a Birkenstocked hipster, a school custodian, health-care workers, people receiving government-provided food assistance benefits...You don’t have to squint too hard to see the commonalities between Aldi and TJ’s: Both are known for compact stores, limited selections, fanatical shoppers and low prices..." Bloomberg subs.   Instacart Returns to the Super Bowl at Adweek/Yahoo. "Instacart is working with its internal creative agency Local Produce as well as BBDO and McCann on the campaign." Read more   Sweeping Minimum-Wage Hikes Take Hold Across the Country at WSJ. [...]

+ November consumer prices rose at a 2.7% annual rate vs. 3.1% expected at CNBC. "Core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, was also cooler than anticipated, increasing 2.6% over 12 months. It was expected to have increased by 3%." Read more   Elliott Builds Over $1 Billion Stake in Lululemon at WSJ. "Elliott has been working closely with veteran retail executive Jane Nielsen, a former chief financial officer and chief operating officer at Ralph Lauren, who they see as a potential Lululemon CEO candidate, the people familiar with the matter said." WSJ subs.   Walmart’s $115,000 [...]

  Consumers are feeling gloomy about the economy. Here’s why they’re spending anyway at CNBC. "Marcus Feldman, a biotech project manager from Cambridge, Mass., said he will spend about 15% more this year on the holidays...“Every headline says people are scared to spend,” he said. “Then I walk down [one of Boston’s major shopping streets] Newbury Street on a Saturday and it’s shoulder-to-shoulder.” Read more   US retail sales were little changed in October at Bloomberg. "The value of retail purchases, not adjusted for inflation, was essentially unchanged after a revised 0.1% gain in September, according to a Commerce Department [...]

  Eli Lilly’s next-generation obesity drug helped patients with obesity and a type of knee arthritis lose an average of 23.7% of their body weight at CNBC   Walt Disney Company and OpenAI reach landmark agreement "As part of this three-year licensing agreement, Sora will be able to generate short, user-prompted social videos that can be viewed and shared by fans, drawing on more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters." Press release   Prada to launch $930 ‘Made in India’ sandals after backlash at Reuters. "Prada will make a limited-edition collection of sandals in India inspired by [...]

  Doug McMillon on CNBC set this morning "Walmart CEO Doug McMillon joins ‘Squawk Box’ to discuss the move of the company stock to Nasdaq, why he’s stepping down as CEO, impact of AI on retail, state of the consumer, and more." Video   Target Opens "Target SoHo" "...a one-of-a-kind concept store where everyday shopping meets play, discovery and style. Located in the heart of New York City at 600 Broadway..." Press release   CVS forecasts 2026 profit above estimates as turnaround plan takes effect at CNBC. "The upbeat outlook caps a year in which CEO David Joyner pushed through [...]