US retail sales unexpectedly stalled in December at Bloomberg. “The value of retail purchases, unadjusted for inflation, were little changed after a 0.6% gain in November…Eight out of 13 categories posted decreases, including declines at clothing stores and furniture outlets…outlays rose at building materials stores and sporting goods retailers.” Bloomberg subs.

 

Target increases in-store staffing hours, cuts about 500 other roles to help fix customer experience at CNBC. “In an internal employee memo obtained by CNBC, the big-box retailer said it’s making changes to the way it runs and oversees stores to improve the customer experience…To do that, Target said it will reduce the number of store districts…and put money toward more hours for front-line store employees…Target is laying off around 500 people, including about 100 at the store district level and about 400 across its supply chain sites, the internal email said.” Read more

 

Target Announces Executive Leadership Changes “Effective Feb. 15…Cara Sylvester is named chief merchandising officer…Lisa Roath is named chief operating officer. Rick Gomez, chief commercial officer, will depart Target and Jill Sando, chief merchandising officer for apparel and accessories, home and Fun101 will retire.” Press release

 

CVS Health Q4 Revenues +8.2% Press release

 

…CVS tops quarterly estimates, reaffirms profit outlook as turnaround plan takes effect at CNBC. “CVS’ pharmacy and consumer wellness division posted $37.66 billion in sales for the fourth quarter, up 12.4%…CVS said the increase came partly from higher prescription volume, including from the company’s acquisition of prescriptions from Rite Aid…” Read more

 

Coca-Cola Q4 Net Revenues +2.0% / Op Income -32% Press release

 

He Vowed to Revive RadioShack and Pier 1. Investors Say They Were Swindled. at WSJ. “Taino “Tai” Lopez …urged his followers to invest in a new company he had started that was scooping up distressed retailers on the cheap—RadioShack, Pier 1 Imports, Dressbarn, Modell’s Sporting Goods and Linens ‘N Thingg…Sean Murphy, an Illinois grandfather…invested $175,000 in the company…(he) got a $10,000 Pier 1 gift card and monthly checks of about $1,000 for about two years…The payments stopped abruptly in late 2022…Last September, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil lawsuit against Lopez and his partners, accusing them of running a Ponzi scheme…” WSJ subs.

 

Amazon Prime Air delivery drone crashes into a Texas apartment building Fox Business/Video

 

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Kroger’s new CEO Greg Foran: Demanding but fair at WSJ. “At Walmart, Foran was known as a demanding, but fair and detail-oriented boss who worked long hours. On Saturday mornings, he would often take other executives on a company plane to visit stores around the country. Foran liked to inspect the quality of produce or meat and pepper workers with questions…He displayed a similar hands-on approach at Air New Zealand, sometimes working with cabin crew to serve drinks on flights.” WSJ subs.

 

Americans’ hope for their future has fallen to a new low at AP. “In 2025, only about 59% of Americans gave high ratings when asked to evaluate how good their life will be in about five years, the lowest annual measure since Gallup began asking this question almost 20 years ago.” Read more

 

Eddie Bauer to close Seattle headquarters, lay off 60 at Oregon Live

 

Merchants unleashed: How agentic AI transforms retail merchandising at McKinsey & Co. “Imagine that you’re a retail merchant or category manager who has just hired the analyst of your dreams…They keep an eye on the business at all times, even on weekends and holidays. They’re proactive, scouring through massive amounts of performance data…Now, imagine you have 20 of these analysts—for every single buyer. This is the new reality that agentic AI systems (autonomous, goal-driven AI systems that can plan, act, and learn) are bringing to retail merchandising.” Read more

 

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