“Costco September Same-Store Sales Climb 3% but Q4 Profit Up Only 1%” by Jessica Wohl at Reuters.  “Analysts had expected September same-store sales to rise 3.7 percent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.  Fourth-quarter net sales rose 1 percent to $31.77 billion.”  Read more

 

“Costco’s Announces Q4/September/52 Week Earnings and Sales”  Read Company Release

 

“Family Dollar Reports Record Sales and Earnings Results”  “Total net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 increased 5.8% to $2.5 billion compared with total net sales of $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012. Comparable store sales in the quarter were flat…Company opened 500 new stores in FY13 and plans to open 525 new stores in FY14.”  Read more

 

“Family Dollar Q4 Conference Call Today at 10am EST”  Listen to the Webcast

 

“Target Sets Sustainability Standards For Product Sourcing” by Jake Anderson at Twin Cities Business.  “Target’s starting with its vendors that together provide 7,500 products in the household cleaner, personal care, beauty, and baby care categories. Products from those vendors will be assigned a score of between zero and 100 “based on the sustainability of ingredients, ingredient transparency, and overall environmental impact,” Target said. Next year, Target will expand its assessments to include cosmetics products.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart and Bharti Enterprises call off India JV – Retail Stores on Hold” at Reuters.  “If Wal-Mart wants to set up its own retail stores in Asia’s third-largest economy, it will need to find another local partner to own 49 percent of the business under foreign investment rules that were eased last year.”  Read more

 

“New Target store shows changing face of Cabrini-Green (Chicago) neighborhood” by Eric Horng at ABC-7 Chicago.  “A brand new store is about to open for business at the former site of a public housing complex known for being a haven for criminal activity. A Target store now occupies the corner of Division and Larrabee, where Cabrini-Green once stood.”  See the video

 

“Target Opens Second CityTarget in San Francisco” by Andrew Ross at SF Gate.  “As for a third CityTarget I’ve been hearing about in San Francisco’s Japantown? “No information to share about a potential new store in that neighborhood,” said a Target spokesman. But “Japantown is a great market for Target and we continue to pursue opportunities to serve guests there.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. to Webcast 20th Annual Meeting for the Investment Community”  “Wal-Mart will webcast its 20th Annual Meeting for the Investment Community on Tues., Oct. 15 from approximately 7:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CDT. The video webcast will include presentations and question and answer sessions on all three operating segments — Walmart U.S., Walmart International and Sam’s Club — as well Global eCommerce and Walmart leverage. President and CEO Mike Duke will provide an overview of the company’s strategies for next fiscal year.”  Read more

 

“For Shoppers, Next Level of Instant Gratification” by Hilary Stout at NY Times.  “MasterCard plans to announce a partnership with Condé Nast, the publisher of Vogue, Wired, Vanity Fair and other popular magazines, that will allow digital readers to instantly buy items described in an article or showcased in an advertisement by tapping a shopping cart icon on the page. The partnership, called ShopThis, will begin in the November tablet edition of Wired, due on Oct. 15.”  Read more

 

“Sears Cashes Out of Prime Stores” by Suzanne Kapner at WSJ.  “The discounter has sold nearly a dozen profitable Sears stores in the U.S. and Canada over the past 18 months…That is a small number for a company that operates 2,000 Sears and Kmart stores in the U.S. and 148 Sears stores in Canada. Still, it is an indication the company is faced with tough choices between succeeding as a retailer and unlocking the value in its property.”  Read more

 

“Amazon pushes ‘login and pay’ option for Web retailers” by Donna Tam at CNET.  “Amazon wants other online retail sites to add its “login and pay” feature, further tying merchants to its payments system.  The company introduced the new integration Tuesday, saying it “streamlines” a merchant’s payment process and boosts other sites’ customer base with its own.”  Read more

 

“At his first P&G meeting back, Lafley talks dividend, breakfast and Russian ads” by Barrett Brunsman.  “The biggest reaction from shareholders gathered in the Procter & Gamble Hall came in response to a woman’s question about whether P&G couldn’t afford to provide “any goodies” for breakfast at the event because the board had granted Lafley a $200,000 housing allowance. Laughter and applause erupted from many of the 636 people present.  “Touché” Lafley responded.”  Read more

 

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