This Weeks Earnings Calendar:

11/19:  Home Depot, Dick’s, Best Buy

11/20:  Lowe’s, JCP, Staples

11/21:  Target, Dollar Tree

 

“Costco Opens Stores #4 and #5 in Australia” by Anne Davies at Sydney Morning Herald.  “In fiscal year 2012-13 Costco snared $600 million of the grocery and retail market. While it remains a minnow compared with Woolworths, whose supermarket division accounted for more than $50 billion in sales, the newcomer, as is Aldi, is showing it is possible to penetrate the supermarket duopoly.” Read more 

 

“Walmart Invades Target’s Hometown” by Shannon Prather at Star-Tribune. “We still can’t figure out why they are putting them so close,” Ryan said…With its aggressive north-metro expansion, Wal-Mart has eclipsed Target on its home turf. Minnesota now has 79 Wal-Marts and Sam’s Clubs vs. 75 Targets.  And north-metro shoppers can expect more.”  Read more

 

“Target hires super sleuth to coax toy sales” by Janet Moore at Star-Tribune.  “For more than a quarter-century, Jonna Mendez traveled exotic corners of the globe as a CIA operative, often in disguise and wielding tiny spy cameras just like the ones that made James Bond famous.  Now retired, she has a new title this holiday shopping season: Kids’ Gift Detective for Target Corp.”  Read more

 

From the Archives (5/13):  After Walmart’s recent earnings call we’re dusting off the “Should Walmart get rid of Sam’s” discussion:

“Too Big to Succeed – It’s Time to Break-up Walmart: Analyst” by Jeff Macke at Yahoo Finance.  “Doctor Sozzi has a prescription for what’s ailing the world’s largest retailer: “get rid of Sam’s Club… it doesn’t belong in the company especially when the focus is clearly on investing online and winning internationally.”  Only under the umbrella of Walmart as a parent could a company as large as Sam’s Club get lost in the shuffle.”  Read more / See the video

 

From the Archives (5/13):  “The History of Sam’s Club” by Kim Souza at City Wire.  “General Mills came on board early selling Cheerios in large bags designed for restaurants. Kellogg’s did not want to accommodate Sam’s multipack requirements for years, according to Moore, who said Sam’s had about 200 clubs before Kellogg’s would agree to the requirements.  “At one point we were selling so many units of Cheerios, General Mills told us we were destroying their own sales to foodservice so they discontinued the large bag sales to Sam’s.”  Read more 

 

“Chicagoland:  New player – Mrs. Greens – hopes to eat up part of grocery market” by Robert Channick & Samantha Bomkamp at Chicago Tribune.  “A new organic player is sprouting up in the Chicago grocery market…New York-based chain Mrs. Green’s Natural Market opened Friday in Lincoln Park, taking on upscale competitors like Mariano’s and Whole Foods…Mrs. Green’s is hoping to have at least six Chicago locations, according to Shige Hatanaka, senior vice president of operations.”  Read more

 

“Apple Stores Are Great and All, but Do They Have Giant Slo-Mo Snow Globes?” by Liz Gannes at All Things D.  “Google is setting up six pop-up shops for the holidays — though word seems to have gotten out prematurely, as its Winter Wonderlab site keeps going down. The stores seem to be set in suburban shopping areas, rather than floating on fanciful barges.”  Read more / See the video

 

“Macy’s eyes on millennial prize” by Alexander Coolidge at Cincy Enquirer.   “Macy’s is reaching out to a newer, younger shopper: the fickle, financially insecure 13- to 30-year-old whose sales are essential for a happy holiday shopping season and beyond.  Although still in the early stages, a growing roster of so-called Millennial merchandise gave Macy’s an edge to beat Wall Street expectations last week, executives said.”  Read  more

 

“A Grocery Store In A Bus Drives Fresh Food To The Food Deserts” by Adele Peters at Fast Company.  “Step inside a reconditioned city bus in Chicago this Thanksgiving, and you can buy cranberries and green beans where commuters once sat. The Fresh Moves mobile produce market– which inspired other pop-up grocery stores across the country– plans to reopen on the weekend of November 23, intent on proving to larger supermarkets that there’s a market for fresh produce in food deserts.”  Read more

 

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