Best Buy Q4 comp sales +3.2% Press release

 

…Reuters: Best Buy beats broader holiday season blues with strong online sales “Best Buy’s overall same-store sales rose 3.2% in (Q4), beating analysts’ average estimate of a 1.9% increase…Revenue rose 2.7% to $15.20 billion, also beating the estimate of $15.05 billion. The company’s domestic comparable online revenue increased 18.7% to $3.52 billion.” Read more

 

JCPenney Q4 comp sales -7.0% (vs. expected -7.3%) Press release

 

…CNBC: JCPenney expects sales declines to continue in 2020, more store closures ahead “Q4: Earnings per share: 13 cents, adjusted, vs. a loss of 6 cents expected. Revenue: $3.49 billion vs. $3.44 billion expected.” Read more

 

Price analysis shows Amazon Go Grocery is already undercutting nearby retail rival by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. “We compared a basket of 17 items, from fresh vegetables to packaged goods. The verdict? We saved more than 5 percent, or $2.92, at Amazon Go Grocery, paying $52.78 for items that cost $55.70 with a club card at the nearby QFC. Without a QFC club card, the difference would have been nearly 25 percent, a savings of about $10.” Read more

 

…Clues point to possible location of next grocery store in Seattle by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “An Amazon senior manager is listed on permit filings for a project in Seattle’s Central District, where Vulcan Real Estate is building a huge apartment complex with a grocery store on the ground floor.” Read more

 

Trump campaign’s plan to woo black voters: Retail stores at Politico. “As part of an ongoing effort to increase Trump’s share of the black vote this fall, the president’s reelection campaign unveiled plans on Wednesday to open a series of “community centers” in empty retail spaces across the U.S. where paid staffers and volunteers will spend the next several months courting black voters with literature, celebrity meet-and-greets and “woke”-branded attire.” Read more/Pics

 

Morgan Stanley: roughly 40% of units fulfilled by Amazon in the U.S. “went through” one-day delivery in the fourth quarter. That number could grow to 50% by the end of 2020 at CNBC. Read more

 

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Apple to begin online sales in India this year, open first retail store in 2021 by Manish Singh at TechCrunch. Read more

 

Harris Teeter making changes to its 24-hour grocery stores at Charlotte Observer. “…effective March 4, these stores will close at midnight and reopen at 5 or 6 a.m., said Danna Robinson, Harris Teeter communications manager. It’s not just in Charlotte. The new hours for its 24-hour stores and all other stores are companywide.” Read more

 

Amazon all set to enter India’s food delivery market by Manish Singh at TechCrunch. “The launch of the service, which would be offered as part of either Amazon’s  Prime Now or Amazon Fresh platform, could happen as soon as next month, we are told.” Read more

 

Walmart in discussions to sell stake in Asda at BBC. “The US retail giant said it was talking to a “small number of interested parties” about a possible investment. It comes after UK regulators blocked Walmart’s plan to merge Asda with Sainsbury’s last year on fears it would raise prices for consumers.” Read more

 

US economy grew at 2.1% rate in Q4 but virus threat looms at AP. Read more

 

Etsy tells sellers it’s going to advertise their goods and take a big cut of the sale at The Verge. “Etsy is going to start automatically advertising its sellers’ products and taking a fee — at least 12 percent — for every sale it refers. The ads will appear on “high-traffic sites” like Google, Facebook, and Pinterest, and they’ll be a requirement for shops doing more than $10,000 in sales each year.” Read more

 

Tesco becomes first UK supermarket to sell bandages for different skin tones at Daily Mail. “The supermarket said it developed the plasters after an employee saw a viral tweet in which a black man said he was ‘holding back tears’ at finding a plaster that matched his skin tone after 45 years.” Read more

 

Worries over panic buying arise as some supply shelves at stores empty out at KHON 2 “Supplies were flying off the shelves Wednesday, with some shoppers taking pictures of empty shelves at stores across Oahu…At Costco Iwilei, flatbeds were overflowing with boxes of canned goods, bottled water, toilet paper and paper towels.” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra

The Guardian: Target raised wages. Then it cut workers’ hours.

Coronavirus patient at UC Davis Medical Center since Feb. 19 wasn’t tested for days

Bill Fields, once considered CEO heir apparent at Walmart, dies at 70

NYC Council bills aim to slash food-delivery fees

Patagonia’s new film celebrates activists fighting urban oil drilling in L.A.

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