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Posted
Jun 30 2008, 07:29 AM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
Rating:
Wal-Mart has finally decided to do something about its staid white-on-blue logo and red, blue, and grey color scheme. In a surprising move for a company that acted as though it was too big, too powerful, and too damn cheap to bother with its image problem, Wal-Mart's new face to the world will be a white "Walmart" logo and starburst on a burnt orange background and brick store exterior. This is according to planning documents filed for a new Wal-Mart Supercenter outside Memphis.
Accompanying the new look is a new, smaller store format that features "new department titles, less signage, curved lines and earth-tone colors" according to company public affairs and government relations manager Dennis Alpert. The building will also feature lighting systems that turn on when they detect a shopper in close proximity, large skylights, and other "green building elements" in an effort to conserve energy.
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Posted
Apr 02 2008, 08:34 AM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
Rating:
After fighting all the way to the Supreme Court, retailing behemoth Wal-Mart announced yesterday it would drop its claim to the settlement a former employee received after a horrific traffic accident. The change of heart came just as the funds, all $270,000 that remained, were being prepped for transfer to the company’s coffers. Unfortunately, it comes way too late to save any shred of goodwill in the minds of consumers.
The case involves 52-year-old Deborah Shank, who worked as a night-shift shelf stocker until a run-in with a tractor-trailer left her permanently brain-damaged and wheelchair bound. Although the story has been in and out of the news since December, things picked up when Wal-Mart won its suit against the family a few weeks ago.
This spurred MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann to award the company his “Worst Person in the World” award for four straight nights—starting with this tirade last Thursday. The blogosphere absolutely erupted over the story’s injustice. No wonder, given that this stokes all those passionate anti-corporatism and anti-globalization feelings bloggers often harbor.
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Posted
Mar 12 2008, 10:16 AM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
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Surfwear retailer Quiksilver had a big-time wipeout over the last three years after diluting its strong association with beach culture through a series of acquisitions in golf and skiing. Now that shareholders are in a bloodlust after seeing shares cut in half, the company is taking a chance on amber waves of grain.
News reports this week suggest Quiksilver, inventor of the boardshort, is planning an invasion of the American heartland. It’s looking to open a number of its beach house inspired retail outlets across the Midwest. This is totally new territory for the company, as current retail efforts are focused elsewhere. Crazy as this might seem, given that Des Moines, Iowa is about as far from the shores of Orange County as you can get, the idea could actually work.
Given the insane rise in food prices recently, the Midwest is easily outperforming the rest of the country. Farmland values increased 16% last year, while real estate plummets in traditional surf territory like California and Florida. Incomes are way up too, with the average farm household now bringing in nearly $90,000, up 6.3% from last year.
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Posted
Mar 06 2008, 01:39 PM
by
Robert Walberg
Rating:
Not skyrocketing energy prices, not the rising foreclosure rate, not even the slowing U.S. economy will stop GameStop from posting monster sales and earnings gains when the company reports its fiscal fourth quarter earnings in less than two weeks.
Bolstered by strong demand for video game hardware systems such as the Wii and Xbox 360, and continued strength in software sales, the world's leading video game retailer is expected to deliver Q4 earnings of $1.12 per share on revenue of $2.9 billion, -- well above last year's results of 82 cents and $2.3 billion.
Normally, a stock would rally into such news. But these aren't normal times. GameStop is down 32% from its December 2007 high, as investors flee any and all stocks tied to the consumer. However, unless you're a gamer or are related to one, you might not understand that GameStop actually stands to benefit competitively from a downturn. Unlike Target, Best Buy or Wal-Mart, GameStop sells used games and game consoles. In fact, sales of pre-owned merchandise now represent about 25% of total sales.
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Posted
Jan 14 2008, 11:16 AM
by
Robert Walberg
Rating:
The "softer side of Sears" no longer refers to its apparel merchandise, but to its sales and earnings history.
Citing difficult economic conditions and growing competition, the company warned that fourth-quarter sales and earnings would fall well shy of Wall Street estimates. Management now expects quarterly earnings of between $2.59 to $3.48 per share, a whopping 20% to 40% below the Street's consensus estimate. The stock responded by falling to its lowest level in three years.
It's a bit surprising to me that so many investors were surprised by the company's dismal quarter -- especially given that Sears issued an even bigger warning last quarter. The company has also had a history of underperforming expectations over the past several years. Let's face it, the Lampert experiment has been a total bust. You can prop up numbers only so long by cutting costs and repurchasing shares -- at some point you have to improve the core business and Lampert, chairman and architect of the merger with Kmart, never had the retailing experience necessary to get the job done.
The idea of merging two struggling retailers in hopes of creating a thriving one was doomed from the start -- especially since management was more concerned with pleasing Wall Street analysts than store customers. The folks on Wall Street might not be the brightest bunch in the world, but even they are beginning to realize that Lampert's financial razzle dazzle hasn't done anything to make Sears or Kmart more relevant to shoppers.
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Posted
Nov 28 2007, 11:40 AM
by
Robert Walberg
Rating:
Now that the dust has settled back on our keyboards, which company was the big winner of Cyber Monday? Was it a) Amazon with its new Kindle, b) Wal-Mart with its cheap big-screen TVs, c) Blue Nile with its sparkling diamonds, or d) none of the above?
If you guessed "d" then you are today's winner. While anecdotal evidence suggests that each of the highlighted retailers fared reasonably well on Monday, the real winner of Cyber Monday was FedEx.
Internet sales totalled a whopping $733 million Monday, an impressive 21% jump over the year-ago total. But to jack up sales so significantly at a time when consumer confidence is in the toilet required some serious effort -- and by effort I mean discounting prices. Sales were everywhere online Monday, and that's why I'm not as excited by the retailers as I am by FedEx. You see slashing prices might jumpstart sales, but it does so at the cost of lowering margins. Lower margins mean slow to no profit growth, and it's earnings growth that ultimately drives stock prices.
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Posted
Nov 15 2007, 08:52 AM
by
Robert Walberg
Rating:
Within the past week Wal-Mart and Corning delivered positive earnings surprises due in part to the strength of large, flat-panel televisions. Investors responded by driving the share price of both stocks smartly higher. If you missed both of those moves, you might want to consider jumping into Best Buy ahead of that company's earnings report due in mid-December.
No company is better positioned to exploit the growing demand for large television sets this holiday season than the country's top electronics retailer. Price competition might keep margins from expanding greatly, but robust sales growth in the television/home theater area should result in some very favorable bottom-line comparisons. Best Buy is projected to earn 40 cents a share in its fiscal third quarter, up an impressive 30% from last year.
But Best Buy's results won't be driven only by big TV sets. Despite the difficult economic conditions, strong demand for other consumer electronic items such as gaming consoles, digital music players, high-end cell phones, portable navigational devices and laptop computers should make Best Buy a top holiday destination for shoppers. Most of these items are priced to move and even though consumers are feeling the pinch from higher energy prices and declining home values, crowded Best Buy stores suggest that, yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus -- and he will be filling his sleigh with consumer electronic goodies again this holiday season.
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