Costco May comp sales (ex. fuel & f/x) +6.0% Press release   Amazon is reportedly training humanoid robots to deliver packages at The Verge. "Citing an anonymous source “involved in the effort,” The Information says that Amazon has almost finished constructing an indoor “humanoid park” at one of the retail giant’s San Francisco offices that’s roughly the size of a coffee shop. The obstacle course reportedly contains one Rivian van for training purposes, with Amazon aiming to have humanoid robots “hitch a ride in the back of Amazon’s electric Rivian vans and spring out to deliver packages.” Read more [...]

  Dollar General Q1 comp sales +2.4% "...2.7% increase in average transaction amount and a 0.3% decrease in customer traffic. Same-store sales...included growth in each of the consumables, seasonal, home products, and apparel categories." Press release   Fortune Announces 2025 Fortune 500 List (Walmart #1, Amazon #2) Press release   Walmart CEO started his career unloading trailers at the warehouse—he says raising his hand led to his success at Fortune/Yahoo   Amazon Pharmacy updates include new caregiver feature and Medicare access for PillPack service at GeekWire. "The caregiver feature allows customers to invite trusted, verified individuals who can manage medications [...]

  Best Buy Q1 comp sales down 0.7% Press release   ...Best Buy cuts full-year sales and profit guidance as tariffs raise cost of electronics at CNBC. "... shoppers bought fewer home theaters, appliances and drones than a year ago. The company said weakness in those categories was partially offset by growth in the computing, mobile phone and tablet categories." Read more   Kohl's Q1 comp sales down 3.9% Press release   Build-A-Bear Q1 net retail sales up 10.9% Press release   Federal court rejects Trump's 'unbounded authority' to impose worldwide tariffs at Fox Business. "The three judges who ruled [...]

  Temu-owner PDD Holdings profit dives as it faces challenges at home and abroad at Reuters/Yahoo. "Chinese e-commerce firm PDD Holdings saw first-quarter net profit fall 47% to 14.74 billion yuan ($2.05 billion) as its domestic platform suffered from intense local competition and its international business was hit by global trade uncertainty." Read more   Stephen Hayes Dacus becomes first foreign CEO of 7-Eleven in Japan at AP."Fluent in Japanese and English, Dacus previously worked at Walmart, Japanese clothing chain Uniqlo and other retailers...It remains unclear whether the company is going to go it alone or decide to collaborate with [...]

  Home Depot Q1 comps down 0.3% "...sales of $39.9 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2025, an increase of 9.4%" Press release   ...Home Depot CFO says retailer doesn’t plan to raise prices due to tariffs at CNBC. "Sales patterns improved as the quarter went on, McPhail said. Comparable sales declined 3.3% year over year in February, increased 1.3% from the prior-year period in March and rose 1.8% year over year in April..."we’ve seen the level of customer engagement that we saw in April continue into the first few weeks of May,” (McPhail) said." Read more   Fortune [...]

  Walmart Q1: US comp +4.5% / Sam's Club (ex fuel) +6.7% / Walmart Int'l net sales +7.8% "Walmart US ecommerce growth +21% - Walmart US achieved eCommerce profitability in Q1 for the first time, marking a milestone for the company." Press release   ...Walmart CFO says price hikes from tariffs could start later this month at CNBC. "We’re wired for everyday low prices, but the magnitude of these increases is more than any retailer can absorb,” (CFO Rainey) said. “It’s more than any supplier can absorb. And so I’m concerned that consumer is going to start seeing higher prices. [...]

  April: Consumer prices rose 0.2% last month, bringing the annual inflation rate to 2.3%, an unexpectedly cooler reading than the 2.4% increase seen in March at CNN   US slashes 'de minimis' tariff on small China parcels to 54% at Reuters/Yahoo. "...the levies will be reduced to 54% from 120% for items valued at up to $800 sent from China via postal services, with a flat fee of $100 to remain, starting from May 14. Carriers can pay either the 54% or the $100 fee per package, industry experts said." Read more   Is Jeff Bezos Selling Out the Washington [...]

  Costco April comp sales (ex. fuel & f/x) +6.7%: US +7.1% / Canada +5% / Other Int'l +6.5% / Ecom +13% "April had one less shopping day versus last year, due to the calendar shift of Easter. This negatively impacted total and comparable sales by approximately one and one-half to two percent." Press release   Warby Parker Q1 net revenue +12% "On track to open 45 new stores, including five shop-in-shops at select Target locations slated to open in the second half of the year." Press release   Kohl’s Forms Committee to Find New Head After CEO’s Ouster at [...]