Target Q1 Comp Sales -1.3% “…driven by small declines in both traffic and basket size. Comparable digital channel sales increased 22 percent, on top of 23 percent growth in first quarter 2016.” Press release

 

…CNBC: Comp sales: 1.3% drop vs. forecast of a 3.7% decline, according to FactSet. Read more

 

…Reuters: Target’s profit and sales beat estimates, shares jump “…rise in demand for swimwear, electronics such as the Nintendo Switch gaming console, and also celebrity-endorsed products such as those from Victoria Beckham…Excluding items, the company earned a profit of $1.21 per share. Revenue fell 1.1 percent to $16.02 billion. Analysts on average had expected earnings of 91 cents per share on revenue of $15.62 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.” Read more

 

Dick’s Sporting Goods cuts 160 jobs @ HQ by Stephanie Ritenbaugh at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Dick’s Sporting Goods cut 160 positions in the Pittsburgh region and plans to slow its brick-and-mortar store growth nationally while whittling down its vendors by about 20 percent. Meanwhile, the liquidation of competitor Gander Mountain’s stores is expected to hurt short-term sales at Dick’s this year as shoppers snap up going-out-of-business deals.” Read more

 

…Dick’s Sporting Goods backing off on store expansion by Tim Schooley at Pittsburgh Business Times. “By 2019, Stack said the company could open as few as five or 10 stores….“I don’t think we’ll have significantly more stores 5 years from now than we do today.” Read more | Earnings call transcript

 

Apple is overhauling hundreds of stores to try to create the ‘modern-day town square’ by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “Starting on Tuesday, people can sign up for free classes ranging from a photography session titled “Seeing Beauty in the Familiar” with the photographer Chris Ozer to “Producing Music on the iPhone” with the producer Steve Lacy. The programming, dubbed “Today at Apple,” is going live this week in 271 U.S. Apple stores and 495 overall.” Read more

 

Target partners with bed-in-a-box maker Casper by Mark Reilly at St.Paul/Minneapolis Business Journal. “Target doesn’t currently sell mattresses in its stores — and still won’t under the Casper deal, at least not yet. That will keep Casper’s best-known product out of view, but the company says it’ll become the exclusive mattress of Target.com and it’s talking about getting mattresses into stores eventually.” Read more

 

…Deal came together after about a year of talks by Eliot Brown at Wall Street Journal. “Casper is finding it can no longer shun the storefront. The startup is turning next month to Target to sell pillows, sheets and other accessories—though not yet beds—in 1,200 stores nationwide.” Read more (subscription)

 

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Amazon is hiring people to break into the multibillion-dollar pharmacy market by Christina Farr at CNBC. “For the last few years, Amazon has held at least one annual meeting at its Seattle, WA headquarters to discuss whether it should enter the pharmacy business, says two people familiar with the company’s plans. But this year, with the rise of high-deductible plans and the trend towards consumers paying for health care, it is ready to get more serious.” Read more

 

TJX Q1 Comp Sales +1% (over last year’s 7% increase) Press release | Earnings call transcript

 

FTC steps up scrutiny of Walgreen-Rite Aid merger by Josh Kosman at NY Post. “They are working hard to get more information,” a source with direct knowledge of the situation said. The requests, known as Civil Information Demands, show that the Federal Trade Commission is still not ready to approve the deal, sources said.” Read more

 

Sears loses $6 million patent lawsuit to father-and-son company by Gina Hall at Chicago Business Journal. “The jury awarded LoggerHead $6 million in damages…The company sells what is called the Bionic Wrench, a tool that can adjust similar to pliers but also maintains the grip of a wrench…While the original Bionic Wrench sold for $24.99, Sears’ version cost $11.99.” Read more

 

Home Depot CFO Sees Opportunity Amid Retail Slump by Tatyana Shumsky at Wall Street Journal. “Rival retailers’ falling sales are an opportunity for Home Depot Inc., according to Carol Tomé…“The addressable market is $550 billion but there’s lots of competition in this space,” Ms. Tomé told CFO Journal in a phone interview on Tuesday. “It’s not just Home Depot and Lowe’s, it’s Sears, it’s Menards, it’s The Towel Shop, it’s the mom and pops, it’s Amazon, and that’s good because it’s a big market, a big market to grow into,” she said.” Read more (subscription) | Earnings call transcript

 

Women in 30s Now Having More Babies Than Younger Moms in U.S. via Bloomberg. “For more than three decades, women in their late 20s had the highest birth rates, but that changed last year, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” Read more

 

Amazon’s next fashion challenge: Technology to help people find clothes that actually fit by Monica Nickelsburg at CNBC. “For the past few months, Amazon has been secretly building a team that helps customers find clothes that fit perfectly, according to a LinkedIn profile spotted by CNBC…The profile belongs to Sam Dwarakanath, an engineer who most recently worked on the Amazon Go convenience store project…” See LinkedIn profile/Read more

 

Kroger announces retirement of Sukanya Madlinger, SVP of retail divisions – promotes Calvin Kaufman to succeed her Press release

 

Feds and Wal-Mart allege canned tuna prices fixed by Martha Mendoza at ABC News. “Executives of the most popular tuna brands in the U.S. — Chicken of the Sea, Bumble Bee and StarKist — conspired regularly to keep prices high for consumers with a taste for one of America’s favorite sandwich ingredients, according to criminal and civil court records updated this week.” Read more

 

Amazon starts taking pre-orders for first Alexa-enabled 4K TVs by Monica Nickelsburg at CNBC. “Amazon worked with Element Electronics and Westinghouse to make the 4K TVs, which cost between $450 and $900…The TV’s version of Alexa responds to voice commands like it does in Echo devices…you can ask Alexa what dramas are streaming on Amazon Prime and you’ll see a list displayed on the screen.” Read more

 

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