Home Depot Q2 comp sales down 3.3% Press release   ...Home Depot expects sales to weaken as consumers grow more cautious at CNBC. "Pros tell us that, for the first time, their customers aren’t just deferring because of higher financing costs,” CFO Richard McPhail said. “They’re deferring because of a sense of greater uncertainty in the economy.” Read more   US producer prices rise less than expected in July - +0.1% last month vs. forecast of +0.2% at Reuters   AI-labeled products can scare away customers, study finds at Fortune/Yahoo. "In every single case,” Gursoy told Fortune, “whenever we [...]

  Costco reports a 7.1% rise in July comp sales (US +6.3% / Canada +10.2% / Other Int'l +8.9%) Press release   ...Costco members will soon have to scan membership cards upon entrance at Fortune/Yahoo. "...plans to add card scanners at the entrances of its warehouse stores in the coming months, with members required to scan in before they start shopping...all guests will need to be accompanied by a valid member." Read more   RUN - Overloaded by Amazon, rural delivery companies reach the end of the road at GeekWire. "Two of the three independent delivery companies based at the [...]

  Sharpie-maker Newell moves more operations from China as tariffs loom at Reuters. "Newell Brands, is moving production of kitchen appliances out of China and has relocated manufacturing for its writing business to Tennessee as it faces "uncertainty" on tariffs ahead of the U.S. presidential election, Newell CEO Chris Peterson said in an interview with Reuters." Read more   Drugstores tinker with new looks as their usual way of doing business faces challenges at AP News. "Walgreens spokesman Jim Cohn said shopper preferences are shifting, and the company aims “to meet them where, when and how they want to shop.”...At [...]

    Shoplifting skyrockets by 24% across US even as most other crimes fall to pre-pandemic levels at NY Post. "The study reviewed crime statistics from 23 cities across the US, finding shoplifting has steadily been on the rise since the country began emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic around 2022." Read more   Tractor Supply Q2 comp store sales down 0.5% Press release   Walmart’s chief technologist reveals how Gen Z habits will define the next great retail transformation at Fortune/Yahoo. "Earlier this year, Walmart chief technologist Suresh Kumar argued that the 62-year-old retailer is in the process of transforming [...]

  Inside Best Buy’s push to get back to sales growth, cash in on AI craze at CNBC. "Best Buy on Tuesday announced new plans to try to reverse a two-year sales slump...said it would add trained sales teams to key parts of its stores, create more YouTube videos to pique customers’ curiosity and kick off a marketing campaign with a fresh tagline: “Imagine that.”  In an interview with CNBC, CEO Corie Barry said customers told Best Buy that retailers’ store experiences and the technology they offer have “lost a bit of [their] sparkle.” Read more   Listeria outbreak linked [...]

  More teens are working. Here’s why a job is ‘becoming more compelling’ for them, economist says at CNBC. "Last month, more than 5.7 million 16- to 19-year-olds participated in the labor market, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows, marking the highest teen employment rate in June since 2007. While data shows that this is still far below the more than 8 million teen workers recorded in the late ’70s, the figures show that teen employment has steadily grown over the past decade." Read more   Petco has named former Five Below CEO Joel D. Anderson as its new CEO [...]

  US retail sales unchanged in June, beating forecasts for slight drop at Reuters. "Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales...falling 0.3% after a previously reported 0.1% gain in May." Read more   Walmart retools its young adult clothing line in pursuit of fashion credibility at AP. "The company plans to relaunch its 30-year-old brand for teenagers and young adults on Tuesday with a new 130-piece fall collection aimed at Generation Z. The retooling of the No Boundaries label...includes of-the-moment styles like baggy jeans, cropped T-shirts, faux leather corsets and bomber jackets. Most items cost $15 or less. Some [...]

  Costco June comp sales (ex. gas & f/x) +6.9% / Membership fees increase "...effective September 1, 2024, it will increase annual membership fees by $5...Executive Memberships in the U.S. and Canada will increase from $120 to $130 ...the increases will impact around 52 million memberships, a little over half of which are Executive." Press release   ...is Amazon Prime next? at GeekWire   PepsiCo, After Years of Price Hikes, Sounds an Alarm on Consumer Spending at WSJ. "Shoppers are now less interested in buy-one-get-one-free promotions and want lower price points for single items, Caulfield added. Yet even as some [...]