Walmart Q2 US comp sales +2.6% / Hikes full year outlook at CNBC. "The retailer said revenue rose 5.9% in its fiscal second quarter as e-commerce sales jumped 23% globally. Walmart also said U.S. comparable sales grew 2.6%, offset in part by a 0.8% headwind in its health and wellness business as price caps on certain drugs took effect." Read more   ...Sam's Club comp sales +4.4% / WM Int'l Net Sales +7.9% / Global Advertising +38% Press release   ...Walmart sees the slowest pace in US comparable sales in 6 years and offers cautious guidance at AP. "The [...]

  Home Depot Q2 comp sales +1.7% Press release   ...Home Depot reaffirms guidance amid ‘frozen housing market conditions’ at CNBC. "(Consumers) told us they have the means to spend, they’re just hesitant,” (CFO McPhail) told CNBC. “While we’re happy with their level of engagement in the first half, they do tell us they’re worried about inflation, about fuel costs and about about general uncertainty, and so there is a little bit of hesitancy there as the project gets bigger.” Read more   ...Home Depot: Revenue beats / Sales lifted by customers focusing on smaller projects at AP. "Customer transactions [...]

  Shipping giants warn ports and trucks could hold up deliveries and push up prices at CNBC. "Vincent Clerc, CEO of Maersk, said that despite the war in Iran and the impact of U.S. tariffs, there had been “incredible resilience of demand...which has led volumes to continue completely unabated.” However, bottlenecks on the land — from port terminals and cargo facilities to road and rail links — are causing congestion and pushing freight rates higher, he said." Read more   Tariff Reported Refund Leaders (Apple @ $2.2B / Amazon @ $640M) WSJ subs.   ...Tariff refunds now flowing through shippers [...]

  On Q2 net sales +13.5% Press release   Vintage Fashion Is Changing the Economics of Desirability at Bloomberg. "Unlike the primary market, where brands largely set the prices, the secondary market is closer to a continuously operating auction that results in free-market price discovery — basically, a stock market for clothes...In the preowned market, says Gaya Guiragossian, style director at Vestiaire Collective, “value is determined over time. It reflects what remains desirable once the hype has faded.” Bloomberg subs.   CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor Shows 10th Month of Sales Growth; July total retail sales up 5.15% YOY Press release   [...]

  Warby Parker Q2 revenue +9.8% "Active Customers increased 4.1%...Average Revenue per Customer increased 6.6%...(ended) Q2 with 352 stores." Press release   Whatnot - Where Some People Bid Until They’re Broke at WSJ. "...within four months, the 45-year-old accountant had spent almost $1.4 million...Whatnot is on track to surpass one billion dollars in revenue this year after adding 20 million new accounts in 2025...holds nearly 60% of the live commerce market in North America and Europe." WSJ subs.   Etsy laying off about 220 employees, or roughly 12% of its workforce at CNBC   Bob’s Discount Furniture Q2 comp sales [...]

  Best Buy appoints Anne Bramman as Chief Financial Officer "She most recently served as chief financial and growth officer of Circana, a leading consumer analytics company. Prior to Circana, Bramman was CFO of Nordstrom..." Press release   Publix Q2 comp sales decreased 0.5% Press release   Shein seeks $30-$40 billion valuation for August Hong Kong IPO, sources say at Reuters. "The valuation target marks a dramatic ​reset for Shein, whose worth peaked at $98.2 billion in 2022 before falling to $64 billion in 2023 and April 2024 ⁠in private fundraising rounds as growth slowed and external pressures mounted." Reuters [...]

  Amazon, Walmart AI detect 'made in USA' fraud but do not flag it, study says at Reuters. "When the ​AI bots are queried on why the companies are not doing more to combat the false labeling, the AI-driven ​chatbots have cited business justifications. When researchers asked Walmart's Sparky why it does not flag suspicious "made in USA" claims, it responded that the FTC typically enforces "made in USA" rules against manufacturers, not retailers." Reuters subs.   Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. Q1 net sales +17.7% / comp store sales +4.7% Press release   eBay settles for nearly $56M after former [...]

  Apple plans to lease iPhones for $17.99 a month through partnership with Klarna at CNBC. "As a lease, devices will have to be returned at the end of 24 months. Users can also purchase their phone at that time with an additional payment, or upgrade to a new device. No security deposit is required and, while Klarna won’t charge late fees, it will terminate leases after three months of missed payments." Read more   Shein posted a $99 million net loss in Q1 of 2026, swinging from a $395 million profit in the same period a year earlier at [...]