Lowe’s Q1 US Comp Sales +5.3% “Lowe’s today reported net earnings of $673 million for the quarter ended May 1, 2015, a 7.8 percent increase over the same period a year ago.” Read the release

 

Lowe’s Earnings & Revenues Miss Estimates by Katie Little at CNBC. “Total same-store sales rose 5.2 percent. Analysts on average had estimated a 6.1 percent rise, according to Consensus Metrix.” Read more

 

Target to Webcast 1st Quarter Earnings Call Today at 9:30 am CST  Read more

 

Dick’s Sporting Goods connecting adjoining Field & Stream stores by Tim Schooley at Pittsburgh Business Times. “In its earnings call, Dick’s leadership told analysts to expect more of the approach as the company continues to grow its young Field & Stream chain in conjunction with its flagship brand. There are four more combo stores planned to open by the end of the year.” Read more

 

Best Buy teams up with Cole Haan on smartphone cases for men by Kavita Kumar at Star-Tribune. “It is rolling out a line of exclusive Cole Haan leather smartphone cases that will hit stores and be available online starting May 31, timed for Father’s Day shopping.” Read more / See the line pic

 

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Names First Woman Executive to Coveted Top Role by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “For more than 15 years, one role at Amazon has stood out as perhaps the most coveted: Jeff Bezos’s “shadow,” who acts as an adviser to the CEO, sitting by his side in daily meetings and serving as a sounding board on big decisions. But, as the years have passed and shadows have appeared and exited, the role stood out for another reason: A woman has never held it. Until now.” Read more

 

Mayor Who Told Residents to Stop Shopping at Home Depot Gets Wish by Emily Buss via Pioneer Press. “The home improvement retailer and city on Tuesday reached a tentative $2.2 million purchase agreement that softens restrictions on redevelopment of the 95,000-square-foot property.” Read more

 

As Walmart Annual Meeting Looms, Investor Campaigns Against ‘Outsized’ Executive Pay by Clare O’Connor at Forbes. Read more

 

Home Depot finds its footing in online shopping by John Kell at Fortune. “We’ve really leaned into interconnected retail,” Home Depot Chief Financial Officer Carol Tome told Fortune.” Read more

 

***Check out the new Eye on Retail website!  eyeonretail.net

 

Etsy Plunges 13% After Reporting Its First-Quarter Financial Performance by Alex Wilhelm at TechCrunch. Read more

 

Who’s eating Walmart’s lunch? Lots of companies by Phil Wahba at Fortune. Read more

 

Dash Offers Amazon New Power in the Home — If It Catches On by Jack Neff at Ad Age. “Derek Ward, a San Francisco software product manager, said he agreed to take a button for Clorox Disinfecting Wipes “because I geek out about this type of technology.” But he said he hasn’t placed an order yet, other than hitting the button accidentally on his closet wall” Read more

 

Tipsheet Extra 

Taylor Swift & retail’s big oops

Oil price plunge could cost Canada 185,000 jobs this year

Amazon is using New York City subways to deliver packages

This retailer will bring a prototype store to Cincinnati

Amazon withdraws request for $1.2 million in tax incentives in MN

Read Tipsheet Extra Stories

 

Walmart Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

Doug McMillon, President & CEO

A few weeks ago, I visited stores and clubs in Beijing and Shanghai. I really enjoyed listening to our Yihaodian customer focus group and following one of our associates around as we delivered orders to apartments in Shanghai.

I walked stores in Mexico and saw a growing business in grocery home shopping there, too.

 

Greg Foran, President & CEO Walmart US

Neighborhood Markets…posted approximately a 7.9% comp

We continued to feel pressure in media and electronics, resulting from industry contraction, the shift from physical to digital media, and lapping last year’s release of the movie Frozen.

In-stock positions in categories such as TVs suffered as a result of the port congestion on the West Coast.

Mobile traffic was up over 100% for the quarter, and we saw higher conversion rates as well.

 

David Cheesewright, President & CEO of Walmart Int’l

I’m particularly pleased with our overall performance in Mexico

In the UK, grocery home shopping continues to report double-digit comps, and we’re leveraging our UK experience in other markets across the globe.

We have a newly created International Acceleration Team based in the UK that is building close partnerships with our markets to speed up the adoption of grocery home shopping processes and technologies.

We’re now working towards a common technology platform to better position us for the expansion of grocery home shopping.

UK: sales declined 2.9% and comp sales declined 3.3% excluding fuel

Canada: sales were up 3.7%, and comps were up 1.8%

Mexico: net sales grew 7.1% and comp sales increased 4.9%

Brazil: net sales and comp sales were up 3.0%

China: net sales grew 1.9% and comp sales grew 0.4%

 

Rosalind Brewer, President & CEO Sam’s Club

Our first quarter results were disappointing

We re-launched Club Pickup in every club in the country, resulting in a 37% sales increase in the Club Pickup Program.

Comp sales were 0.4%, driven by ticket increases of 60 basis points and by a traffic decline of 20 basis points.

Home and apparel comps were up in the low single-digits.

Women and children’s apparel was strong, delivering double-digit comp performance

Patio and seasonal items were down

Mattress and houseware categories grew double-digits in comp sales

Technology and entertainment business, comp sales were down

Our health and wellness category benefited from our pharmacy’s introduction of the newly launched Free/4/10 program

Read the full transcript

 

 

Home Depot Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

Craig Menear, Chairman, President & CEO

All three of our U.S. divisions posted mid-single-digit comps or higher, our Western division was our best performing division.

Both tickets and transactions grew during the quarter with particular strength in transaction growth.

Mexico posted double-digit comps in local currency, making it 46 consecutive quarters of positive comps.

Canadian team posted comps in local currency above the company average, making it 14 consecutive quarters of positive comps.

For the quarter, our online sales grew almost 30%.

Impact of West Coast Port slowdown: “$60 million-ish”

 

Ted Decker, EVP Merchandising

The departments that outperformed the company’s average comp were Tools, Indoor Garden, Outdoor Garden, Décor, Lighting, Plumbing and Appliances.

Pro Heavy categories continue to show great strength as we saw double-digit comps in Siding, Power Tools, Commercial Lighting, Fencing and Power Tool Accessories.

Total comp transactions grew by 4.4% for the quarter, while comp average ticket increased 1.7%.

Tickets for transactions under $50, representing approximately 20% of our U.S. sales, were up 3.2% in the first quarter.

Transactions tickets over $900, also representing approximately 20% of our U.S. sales, were up 6.8% in the first quarter.

We still don’t have a specific target on a private label penetration. We’re over 15%.

 

Carol Tome, CFO

Comps for U.S. stores were positive 7.1% for the quarter with positive comps of 5% in February, 7.8% in March and 7.9% in April.

Our garden department in the United States made up 19% of our sales and 26% of our growth. If you compare that to last year, which wasn’t a normal spring, our garden department made up about 18% of our sales but only 4% of our growth.

If you look at people between the ages 18 and 34, nearly a third of them are at home with their parents. And if they were all to leave their home nest, like my nephew just did, thank goodness, that’s 4 million households that would be created.

Read the full transcript

 

 

Dick’s Sporting Goods Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

Ed Stack, Chairman & CEO

Dick’s omni-channel comp sales increased 1.8% in the quarter with growth across the hard lines apparel and footwear categories and supported by an increase in both traffic and ticket.

Encouraged by the improving trend in our Golf business.

We’re seeing the golf recovery continue into the second quarter.

CALIA is after a great start and we believe it will become our number three women’s athletic apparel brand by the end of 2016.

…a new store that will be opening up this year, we’re redeveloping the shopping environment for the athletic female including updated dressing rooms and improved merchandising presentation.

Our focus on e-commerce continues to pay-off with the e-commerce penetration growing to 8.5% of sales in the first quarter of this year, compared to 7% in the first quarter of 2014.

…later this year, we plan to launch Field & Stream transactional (web) sites.

First combo store: set to open in July in Mobile Alabama, which combined store will place a Dick’s and Field & Stream right next to each other with the interior walls opened up in the middle of the store, so customers can cross shop between chains.

…the unfinished camp product will all be in Field & Stream, leaving more room in the Dick’s stores for high margins, faster turning categories such as our women’s, youth and teens sports businesses.

…We believe this will be a very compelling shopping experience and plan to have four of these combo stores in placed by the end of 2015.

 

Andre Hawaux, CFO

In 2015, we expect to open approximately 45 new Dick stores, relocate seven new Dick stores – seven Dick stores and relocate one Golf Galaxy store. We also remain focused on scaling our field and stream concept and expect to open nine new field and stream stores this year.

If you exclude those two businesses for both the golf business and the hunt business, that 1.8 comp at Dick’s would’ve been at 3.8 comp at Dick’s.

Read the full transcript

 

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Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet is created early every weekday morning and read by retail merchants and executives worldwide. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s really happening in the world of retail. Contact us at info@eyeonretail.net.