“Lowe’s & Home Depot Prepping for Tropical Storm Karen” at WJHG-Panama City Beach.  “It’s been a long time since a storm has posed a direct threat to our area.  Emergency Management officials are worried people have become complacent and won’t take the Karen seriously.  Workers at Home Depot and Lowe’s on Back Beach Road were busy Thursday night, stocking the shelves with hurricane supplies.”  See the video / Read more

 

“Alabama Home Depot Ready for Karen” by Ashley Knight at WKRG News.  “It’s all hands on deck, moving crucial supplies closer to the front doors so customers won’t have to go far to find what they need. Barry Simpson found what he needed—he’s lived all his life in Mobile and keeps an eye out on the gulf.  “Been following it for a couple of days and we don’t have a generator so we thought maybe it’s time. Hopefully we won’t need it, but if we do, we’ve got it.” says Simpson.”  See the video / Read more

 

“Sam’s Club CEO says seeing some sales weakness from U.S. furlough” at Reuters.  “”What we’re really concerned about right now is what’s happening with the furloughs. We’re actually seeing a little bit of softness from the government layoffs,” Brewer told Reuters as she visited a new Sam’s Club location in Romeoville, Illinois.  “In a few clubs it was significant,” Brewer said of the drop in business, without giving details on the sales impact or the locations of all of the impacted clubs. She said that Sam’s Club initially saw business slow down in the Washington, D.C., and Virginia area.”  Read more

 

“Rite-Aid Same-Store Sales Up 1.9% in September”  “September front-end same store sales decreased 0.5 percent. Pharmacy same store sales, which included an approximate 100 basis points negative impact from new generic introductions, increased 3.1 percent. Prescription count at comparable stores increased 0.9 percent over the prior-year period.”  Read more

 

“Walgreens September Sales Increase 8.0 Percent” at WSJ.  “Total front-end sales increased 4.1 percent compared with the same month in fiscal 2013, while comparable store front-end sales increased 2.9 percent. Customer traffic in comparable stores decreased 0.8 percent while basket size increased 3.7 percent.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart, Target Roll Out Smaller Urban Store Formats to Do Battle with Dollar, Drug Store Rivals” by Randyl Drummer at Costar.  “Target has been more deliberate in the national rollout of its smaller-format CityTarget stores. Although only two have opened so far in 2013, for a total of seven, the company sees immense promise in the new smaller format.  The seven stores are located in Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle and Portland and range from 80,000 to 100,000 square feet.”  Read more

 

“Customers flock to Costco’s grand opening (in SD)” by Janna Farley at Argus Leader.  “Teenage girls take silly selfies like that all the time. Grown women generally do not. But Nunes says they couldn’t help themselves. “That’s just how excited we were.”  Nunes and Anderson, both from Sibley, Iowa, have been eagerly anticipating Costco’s opening day for weeks, having shopped the warehouse store when they both lived in other states.”  Read more

 

“10 ways the retail store is changing” by Patrick Stafford at Smart Company.  ““For those who have bricks and mortar stores, you need to look at the strategic function differently.”  This means things like sales per square foot are less relevant, when the purpose of your store is not meant for inventory but for brand exposure. Again, you need to think of the physical store as just one part of the overall retail experience.  “Those metrics have become antiquated,” Stephens said.”  Read more

 

“Kroger makes a big move in Harris Teeter purchase” by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati.com.  “Kroger took a big step Thursday to expanding its reach into Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern states, after Harris Teeter shareholders agreed to let their company be acquired by the nation’s largest supermarket operator.  The $2.5 billion acquisition is expected to close before the end of the year, pending expected regulatory approval.”  Read more

 

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Have a great weekend!