Physical clothing, electronics, and home furnishing stores are taking a hit as online penetration led by the e-commerce giant Amazon proliferate in their sales. According to the estimates provided by UBS online sales growth is likely to rise to 25% by 2026 from 16% today, and this will lead to closures of roughly 75,000 physical stores, excluding restaurants. In a note to its clients this week, the investment firm said “store rationalization needs to accelerate meaningfully as online penetration continues to rise.” The estimate implies that for every 1% increase in online penetration, roughly 8,000 to 8,500 stores need to close.Additionally, 7,000 grocery stores may also close if online grocery penetration rises to 10%, from 2%, by 2026. In 2019, already over 5,000 store closures have been declared by retailers like Gap, Victoria’s

Walmart (NYSE: WMT) is shuttering at least 11 U.S. stores across eight states, according to Business Insider, which said the closing date for most of the affected outlets is April 19. Read More...

Pinterest has hired Walmart CTO Jeremy King as its head of engineering ahead of the company’s upcoming IPO. Read More...

The pace of retail store closure announcements didn’t slow down much this week, following a brutal last week for malls and shopping centers across the U.S. Read More...

Minneapolis-based retailer, Target, delivered estimate-beating earnings during the critical holiday period or the fiscal fourth quarter, resulting its shares surging by 4% on Tuesday.The retailer’s in-house brands and easy delivery options are factors that helped the company drive sales and helped it achieve considerable same-store sales growth. The company’s adjusted EPS for the quarter stood at $1.53 versus an estimate of $1.52; revenue came at $22.98 billion versus an estimate of $22.96 billion; and same store sales growth rose by 5.3% versus an expected 5.1%. On an unadjusted basis, net income fell 26.5% to $799 million or $1.52 a share, compared to $1.1 billion, or $1.99 a share, the period the previous year.

Target Corp. reported higher-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter, on the back of strong same-store sales growth and a successful holiday season. The retail giant’s earnings-per-share for the three months ending on February 2 increased +11.7% year-over-year to $1.53, beating analysts’ estimates by a penny (based on The Street consensus forecast).Same store sales for the two months ending in December increased +5.7%, which was a faster pace compared to 3.4% of the same period last year. For the full year 2019, Target is forecasts earnings in the range of $5.75 to $6.05 per share, which is above the consensus estimate of $5.61 per share.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is growing online sales faster than any other major competitor in the United States.By comparison, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), the market leader, grew its revenue from online sales in North America at about half that rate. Read More...

Walmart published an impressive FY19 fourth quarter earnings report, recording revenue growth of over 3.1% on a y-o-y basis. The company’s comparable-store sales recorded an impressive 4.2% growth rate on a y-o-y basis – an acceleration from the 3.4% growth achieved in Q3.This is good news for Walmart as it suggests greater growth in its online sales than Target, although not on an exact quarter to quarter comparison. Other peers like Costco’s (COST) e-commerce sales recorded 28% y-o-y growth, while Amazon's (AMZN) revenue from online stores recorded only 14% y-o-y increase in the fourth quarter. In short, Walmart is looking good in its e-commerce segment and time will reveal how well it can beat competition from Target, Costco and Amazon.

Walmart (WMT), the world’s largest retailer, reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results on Tuesday. Fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.41, surpassing analysts’ estimates of $1.33. READ MORE...  

Walmart on Tuesday reported earnings and revenue for the holiday quarter that topped analysts' expectations, as its e-commerce sales surged 43 percent thanks to more shoppers using its online grocery delivery service and spending more per trip.READ MORE...

Walmart says it will end its involvement with the network of commercial and Medicaid pharmacies run by CVS Health Corp.The reason was a disagreement on pricing. "At a time when everyone is working hard to find ways to reduce healthcare costs, Walmart's requested rates would ultimately result in higher costs for our clients and consumers," Derica Rice, president of CVS Caremark, said in a statement. CVS said it has requested Walmart to remain in its networks through April 30 and does not expect the split to have a material impact on its 2019 financial results.

Target saw a surge of shoppers head to its stores and website during the 2018 holiday season, a sign that its investments in store remodels and delivery services are paying off, and an early sign that consumers across the U.S. spent more on gifts this year.READ MORE...

Discount retailer Dollar General (NYSE: DG) has held up better than most stocks in recent weeks, which is supported by a relative strength rating of 92 from Investor’s Business Daily.A score of 92 means the stock has performed better than 92% of stocks. Unfortunately for DG, it looks like a bearish pattern has formed on the stock.

Jeffrey Smith, CEO of activist hedge fund Starboard Value, wants Dollar Tree Inc. to lift its $1 price ceiling on products. Smith wrote to Dollar Tree  CEO Gary Philbin Monday to reveal that his fund had invested in 1.7% stake in the discount retail company, while indicating that there should be more room to raise product prices at Dollar Tree stores.Smith feels that by rigidly restricting prices within $1, Dollar Tree could potentially be sacrificing product quality or size. "Dollar Tree has a great customer base, and we believe its loyalty stems from the fantastic value customers find at Dollar Tree, not merely because everything in the store is the same price," Smith added in the note. Starboard also wants Dollar Tree to consider selling Family Dollar, a chain of stores that it bought in 2015.

Jeffrey Smith, CEO of activist hedge fund Starboard Value, wants Dollar Tree to lift its $1 price ceiling on products. Smith wrote to Dollar Tree  CEO Gary Philbin Monday to reveal that his fund had invested a 1.7% stake in the bargain retail company, while indicating that there should be more room to raise product prices at Dollar Tree stores.Smith feels that by rigidly restricting prices within $1, Dollar Tree could potentially be sacrificing product quality or size. "Dollar Tree has a great customer base, and we believe its loyalty stems from the fantastic value customers find at Dollar Tree, not merely because everything in the store is the same price," Smith added in the note. Starboard also wants Dollar Tree to consider selling Family Dollar, a chain of stores that it bought in 2015.

Walmart plans to continue to run Art.com as a standalone website. Art.com offers made-to-order products, and includes around two million items such as curated images incorporated as wall art/posters, prints, and other art pieces for customers’ home.The site has been generating more than $300 million in annual sales in recent years, according to CNBC citing  an anonymous person familiar with Walmart's acquisition.

Dollar General is ramping up its healthy offerings.Having recently added 125 products including yogurt, nuts, protein bars, veggie snacks, and coconut water, the retailer seems to be catering to an increasingly health conscious consumer population. The retailer's new "better for you" additions come under its Good & Smart house brand, while the stores also offer other ‘health-conscious’ brands like Annie's, Back to Nature, Honest, Nature Valley, and Kashi.

On Monday, Walmart announced that it will 'employ' robots to clean its stores. Expected to deploy 360 “Auto-C” robots at stores by January-end 2019, the retail giant looks like going big on technology to streamline operations."We're excited to work with Brain Corp in supporting our retail operations and providing our associates with a safe and reliable technology," said John Crecelius, Walmart's vice president of central operations.

This map shows the largest private employer in every state in the U.S., and Walmart is tops in an incredible 22 states.In total, the company employs 1.5 million Americans. READ MORE...

Target Corp.'s third quarter (Q3) earnings may have fallen short of analysts’ expectations a little, but its sales growth potentially speaks to the retail giant’s strength in an industry where competition is only getting intense. Target's adjusted earnings-per-share came in at  $1.09 for the quarter, up 20.2% from the year-ago period.Target’s total sales of $17.82 billion in Q3 topped analysts’ expected $17.80 billion. What’s more, the retailer seems to be upping the “Target” for the holiday season, by offering free two-day shipping on all orders from November 1 to December 22. It is the second-largest department store retailer in the U.S., after Walmart.