Home Depot Q4 US Comp Sales +8.9% “The Home Depot…today reported sales of $21.0 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, a 9.5 percent increase from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. Comparable store sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 were positive 7.1 percent.” Read the release

 

@ CNBC: “The key with Home Depot is that they kept warm weather product in the stores longer, and then as the weather shifted, they got the snow shovels, ice melt, generators, whatever else in their stores quickly, so they were really able to take advantage of what was for a while an odd weather environment,” he said during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday.” Read more

 

Best Buy lays off a few dozen corporate employees by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “We’ve had some areas where we have done a small amount of restructuring,” Jeff Shelman, a company spokesman, told the Star Tribune. He did not provide an exact number of job cuts. But he noted that Best Buy is also hiring in other strategic areas. Its corporate website lists about 90 job openings in Richfield.” Read more

 

TARGET’S GWEN GRAMMY EFFORT HAS EARNED 3 BILLION MEDIA IMPRESSIONS TO DATE – Gwen Stefani’s $12 Million Live Music Video for Target New Centerpiece to a Emerging Trend by Andy Gensler at Billboard. “Billboard estimates Target invested roughly $12 million into the campaign, including $8 million for the airtime alone. Mistakes like the ones in rehearsal would have left egg on faces far and wide — from Target, Stefani and Muller, to Deutsch (Target’s creative agency for the campaign), as well as Stefani’s Interscope Records label and Azoff Music Management.” Read more

 

**A message from ASD Market Week – ASD has the widest variety of goods anywhere! On February 28 – March 2, 2016, we open the doors of the Las Vegas Convention Center to 45,000+ attendees looking to shop the world’s widest variety of wholesale lifestyle accessories and general merchandise at the lowest price points available. Discover hot new products and stylish finds from over 2,600 vendors in categories including: fashion & accessories, beauty & fragrance, gift & home, toys & novelties and many more. Learn more about ASD / See category list | See the show floor video | Register now

 

CVS says 2015 drug spending grew 5 percent, far less than in 2014 by Caroline Humer at Reuters. “CVS Chief Medical Officer Troyen Brennan said that the 2015 overall drug price trend would have been nearly the same as in 2014 if it had not made changes to its main coverage plan, called a formulary, or negotiated such steep discounts.” Read more

 

CVS Just Made Valeant’s Day Even Worse by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “It was already a terrible day for Valeant Pharmaceuticals when news came that CVS Health it will restrict the use of Jublia, the drugmaker’s toenail fungus treatment…Jublia goes for $1,000 for an 8-ml bottle. Caremark members will have to try to treat their condition with other, less expensive toenail fungus drugs, according to Bloomberg.” Read more

 

Dillard’s Q4 Comp Sales -2.0% “Dillard’s Chief Executive Officer, William T. Dillard, II, stated, “The fourth quarter was difficult…Sales were particularly weak on the Southern border and in the energy producing regions.” Read the release

 

Office Depot Q4 Sales -9.0%  Read the release

 

Google Shuttering Comparison-Shopping Site via Wall Street Journal. “The quick reversal is a setback to the Alphabet unit’s efforts to use its enormous reach to provide consumers with niche shopping services and financial-services tools, the Journal said.” via Reuters | via WSJ (subscription)

 

Kroger Announces Retirement of Smith’s President Jay Cummins “His replacement will be announced at a later date.” Read the release

 

Online shopping in Canada grew substantially over holiday season, report says by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. “Online sales accounted for 9.7 per cent of total retail sales in the two-month period, the highest watermark yet for Web sales in Canada. In December, online sales accounted for to 9.9 per cent of total retail sales, up from 8.6 per cent in 2014.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra Stories

Hal Lawton and other Senior eBay Executives Become Top Rated Sellers

Target Leaders Share Their Favorite Thought-Provoking Moments From TED 2016

Father, son accused of shooting geese too close to Walmart

Target halts the sale of hoverboards on its website

Thief Dons Walmart Smock, Steals Four Flat Screen TVs

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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