NRF: Holiday sales rose stronger-than-expected 8.3% at CNBC. “The retail trade group said consumers embraced the gift-giving season as a way to cheer themselves up during the pandemic. Holiday sales on average have increased 3.5% for the past five years, and they rose 4% in 2019, NRF said.” Read more

 

Walmart’s e-commerce chief Marc Lore to leave at the end of January at CNBC. Read more

 

U.S. retail sales fell 0.7% in December “Sales even fell online, down nearly 6% after rising 19% for the year. At clothing stores, sales rose 2.4% after dropping 16% for the year.” Read more

 

JUMP THE LINE – Some big U.S. pharmacies will not check ID before administering COVID-19 vaccines at Reuters. “Many U.S. pharmacies, including those inside Kroger Co supermarkets and the drugstore chain of CVS Health Corp, say they will not be checking IDs before administering COVID-19 vaccines, leaving the door open to those who do not meet states’ guidelines to jump the line.” Read more

 

U.S. producer prices increase 0.3% in December at Reuters. Read more

 

Petco’s stock, which opened at $18 Thursday, soared 63% to close at $29.40, valuing the company at more than $6 billion at AP. “It raised $864 million after selling 48 million shares in its initial public offering. The company plans to use that money to pay off debt.” Read more

 

Kroger CEO Repelled Corporate Raiders and Cut Costs His Own Way at Wall Street Journal. “Lyle Everingham, who has died at 94, fought in World War II and joined the grocery chain as a clerk…Lyle Everingham grew up on a dairy farm, dropped out of college and spent his entire career working in grocery stores, starting with menial jobs as a produce clerk.” WSJ subs.

 

Online clothing reseller Poshmark closes up more than 140% on first day of trading at CNBC. “The stock began trading at $97.50 per share. On Wednesday, Poshmark priced its IPO at $42 a share, giving it an initial valuation of more than $3 billion.” Read more

 

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A security flaw in Amazon’s Ring Neighbors app was exposing the precise locations and home addresses of users who had posted to the app at TechCrunch. Read more

 

Home services platform Porch acquires four companies at TechCrunch. “The most important here is probably the acquisition of Homeowners of America for $100 million, which gets Porch deeper into the home insurance space.” Read more

 

BMW becomes the latest automaker to shut down its subscription service at The Verge. “Access by BMW was a $2,000-a-month car subscription service that launched in 2018…Access by BMW was launched in 2018 in Nashville as a pilot project to test out whether customers would want to have access to a fleet of fancy cars but not necessarily own one.” Read more

 

Whole Foods slashes some workers’ paid breaks to 10 minutes at Fox Business. “…will reportedly affect Whole Foods stores in Southern California, the Mid-Atlantic, the Midwest and the South. Previously, employees in these areas were allocated 15-minute breaks.” Read more

 

Trader Joe’s & Instacart are latest companies to pay workers to get vaccinated at USA Today. Read more

 

UBS: Target has a $14B sleeper in its Shipt business at Seeking Alpha. “While Target has not disclosed Shipt’s full economics, we look at a scenario where Shipt collects fees that are equivalent to 20% of its GMV (includes commissions and memberships) & 50% of its fees come from external retailers. This suggests ~$500-600 mm in annual fee revenue. At 26x CY’20E price / sales, it implies Shipt could be worth $14 bn.” Read more

 

Christopher & Banks stores liquidating after retailer files for bankruptcy protection at USA Today. “As of Jan. 13, the company said it operated 449 stores in 44 states, including 315 Missy, Petite, Women stores, 76 outlet stores, 31 Christopher & Banks stores and 28 C.J. Banks stores.” Read more

 

Indian stores shuttered by farmer protests cost Reliance, Walmart millions in revenue at Reuters. “Since October, more than half the roughly 100 stores of top retailer Reliance Retail in Punjab and Walmart’s 50,000-square-foot wholesale outlet in the district of Bathinda, a centre of the protests, have been shut, the sources added.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra

In New Jersey, smokers can now get the vaccine before teachers

A year on, China falls short on trade-deal targets

Amazon hires university computer science chair, then makes big donation to find replacement

As shoppers buy more of their clothes online, fewer retailers stand to win

U.S. consumer sentiment slips in early January

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

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