Home Depot Q1 comp sales down 2.8% / US down 3.2% Press release

 

…Home Depot comparable sales drop steeper than expected on easing demand at Reuters. “Foot traffic at Home Depot ticked down in the first quarter, except for an Easter spending boost in March. Store visits dipped 0.3% in February and 2.4% in April, according to data firm Placer.ai. Home Depot CEO Ted Decker said the quarter was impacted by a delayed start to spring and continued softness in certain larger discretionary projects.” Read more

 

Alibaba shares fall in premarket trading after posting 86% profit drop at CNBC. “Revenue: 221.9 billion Chinese yuan ($30.7 billion) versus 219.66 billion yuan expected…Revenue for the Taobao and Tmall division, which houses Alibaba’s China e-commerce business, rose 4% year-on-year to 93.2 billion yuan. That was faster than the 2% growth in the previous quarter.” Read more

 

Walmart to Lay Off and Relocate Workers at WSJ. “Walmart is cutting hundreds of corporate jobs and asking most remote workers to move to offices, according to people familiar with the matter. In addition, workers in small offices in Dallas, Atlanta and Toronto are being asked to move to other central hubs like Walmart’s corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., as well as Hoboken, N.J., or Southern California, said one of the people familiar with the matter.” WSJ subs.

 

NRF rejects Shein membership as retailer pursues U.S. IPO at CNBC. “Shein, which filed to go public in the U.S. late last year, has tried to become a member of the retail industry’s largest and most powerful trade association but has been repeatedly rejected, people familiar with the matter told CNBC…For most companies, becoming a member of the NRF wouldn’t have a major impact on their business…but Shein is in the midst of a charm offensive…” Read more

 

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon shares 3 tips for success in work and life at Business Insider. “My first day on the job with Walmart I rear ended my boss’s car. It’s a true story, his name is Benny Bridwell…He gets out of the car, walks around, looks at his bumper, looks at mine, shakes his head, and he says, “McMillon, you are not too smart, are you?”…He showed me some grace and forgiveness. I don’t even know if he ever told anyone. I guess my career could have ended right then.” Read more

 

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Workers at a Maryland Apple store authorize strike at TechCrunch

 

Temu Cools on the U.S. After Shelling Out Billions at WSJ. “…wants to limit risks and seek other sources of growth. One catalyst for the shift is TikTok’s troubles with the U.S. government, the people said. Temu is focusing more on acquiring users in Europe and other countries. As a result, it now expects less than a third of its sales to come from the U.S. this year, compared with 60% last year, the people said…” WSJ subs. 

 

Shein vowed in 2022 that it would improve working conditions and hours at suppliers, but a new study claims that nothing has changed at Fortune/Yahoo. “Public Eye found that employees at Shein suppliers were working more than 75 hours a week and sometimes for seven days straight—directly violating the company’s code of conduct for suppliers that says employees can work a maximum of 60 hours a week and have at least one day off.” Read more

 

Walgreens contacts potential buyers for Boots UK chain at Reuters. “The company is working with advisers to conduct preliminary discussions with prospective bidders for the unit, worth about 7 billion pounds ($8.78 billion), the report stated, citing people familiar with the development.” Read more

 

Quebec Amazon warehouse workers union application certified at Financial Post. “It’s the first time in Canada that employees have unionized at an Amazon warehouse, said the Confederation des syndicats nationaux in a press release on Monday.” Read more

 

Who Needs a Sofa When You Can Rave? The IKEA Nightclub Experiment. at WSJ. “It’s blowing my mind walking around, “ she said, now seeing it out clubbing with friends. “That was bedrooms, that was lighting. It’s really weirding me out. It’s really incredible.” She said that in the past, she would usually be ordering salmon or fish and chips for lunch here, instead of spending the afternoon in a room with thousands of other ravers.” WSJ subs.

 

Sam’s Club to launch online shopping in Hong Kong at South China Morning Post/MSN. “Economist Simon Lee Siu-po (said)…”Supermarkets and online platform HKTVmall will be hard hit. Coupled with internal troubles, this will be an aggression from abroad. I am afraid this will cause a retail crisis in Hong Kong.” Read more

 

What boycott? Supplier orders hold strong for Loblaws stores at Supermarket News. “The Toronto Star reported that executives at four major food suppliers said Loblaws’ sales and orders have not changed over the last couple of weeks. One executive even went as far as to say Loblaws orders with his company increased in May.” Read more