Walmart shares rise on earnings beat at CNBC 
* Walmart said U.S. online sales grew 33 percent.
* U.S. same-store sales were up 2.1 percent beating estimates of 2.0 percent.
* Sam’s Club same-store sales were up 3.8 percent, driven by comparable traffic growth of 5.6 percent. Read more

 

JC Penney Q1 Comp Sales +0.2% “Marvin Ellison: ‘Although our overall top line sales results came in below our expectations for the quarter, we were encouraged by the strong positive comp performance throughout February and March, as well as the last two weeks of April, when temperatures began to normalize.'” Press release

 

…CNBC: JC Penney shares tank on sales decline, outlook slashed “Revenues fell about 4.3 percent to $2.58 billion…vs. estimates for $2.61 billion…Same-store sales rose 0.2 percent but this was also short of analysts’ forecast for roughly 2 percent growth.” Read more

 

Kohl’s CEO Kevin Mansell retires, passes torch to Michelle Gass by Melanie Lawder at Milwaukee Business Journal. “…was marked by an enthusiastic reception from around 1,200 Kohl’s employees…the employees held signs saying “Good Luck, Kevin” and “Retirement: One thing Kohl’s Cash can’t buy” and cheered on a surprised Mansell.” Pics/Read more

 

Whole Foods is selling home decor now by Mark Wilson at Fast Company.”It’s part of a new mini store within Whole Foods dubbed Plant & Plate. It’s got plants. It’s got plates. And it’s got pretty much any other little piece of Instagram-ready home decor item you could imagine.” Read more

 

GasBuddy names top gas station restrooms by state at Trib. “QuikTrip and Wawa ‘hold’ the top spot in most states. Texas-based Buc-ee’s secures the ultimate ‘throne’ with top-rated restrooms in the nation.” List/Press release

 

**A message from 2018 Sweets & Snacks Expo – Next week – The single largest gathering of confectionery & snack companies under one roof! Chicago, May 22-24. Website | Exhibitors

 

San Diego county cracks down on free popcorn in hardware stores by Peter Rowe at San Diego Union Tribune. “Meanley & Son would need to install a three-basin sink to clean and sterilize the popcorn popper. Also required: regular inspections, just like a restaurant. Meanley declined and instead rolled the offending machine into storage. Thus ended a tradition he had started 25 years ago.” Read more

 

Feds say iconic Cincy grocer bilked the government out of $3.45 million by Sarah Brookbank & James Pilcher at Cincinnati Enquirer. “The agents allege that 63.7 percent of the vendor’s total SNAP electronic benefit transactions (EBT) since 2010 – nearly $5.5 million – were fraudulent.” Read more

 

Kroger Is Fending Off Amazon’s Whole Foods With a New Service of Its Own via Fortune. “Kroger (will) license Ocado’s technology to expand its own home-delivery business, (and) could include construction of up to 20 distribution centers over the first five years. This puts it on a completely different scale to Ocado’s other contracts, with France’s Casino Guichard-Perrachon and Canada’s Sobeys.” Read more

 

Academy Sports + Outdoors Names Ex-Foot Locker CEO Ken Hicks Chairman and CEO “Departing CEO J.K. Symancyk is leaving the company to pursue another opportunity.” Press release

 

Local Crate meal kits roll out to 200-plus Target stores in Minnesota, California by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “The startup — which launched in 2015 and has a production facility in St. Paul — was part of the Techstars’ retail accelerator at Target headquarters last summer.” Read more (Tiered subs.)

 

America’s Heaviest Smokers Don’t Want to Know if They Have Cancer at Bloomberg. Read more (Tiered subs.)

 

Target quietly removes a t-shirt from its website after being accused of ‘stealing the art of a gay Mexican artist’ by Kate Taylor at Business Insider. “Target stole a design of mine and printed it on a tshirt,” artist Felix d’Eon‏ tweeted late on Tuesday. “Is this how you support the queer Latinx community, @Target…” Pics/Read more

 

Bumble Bee CEO indicted on charge he fixed canned tuna price via NY Post. Read more

 

Amazon loses another key executive as it becomes a top target for poaching tech talent at CNBC. “More than a dozen executives and senior managers have left Amazon over the past 10 months. Among them, Susan Harker, a VP responsible for global recruiting, took a leave of absence because of a family member’s health issue, according to people familiar.” Read more

 

Shopping while black. African Americans continue to face retail racism. by Michelle Singletary at Washington Post. Read more (Tiered subs.)

 

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