BJ’s reported sales of USD 742.6 million for the five-week period ended January 30, 2010, a 13.0% increase over numbers reported for January 2009. 

• Excluding gas, comparable club sales (comps) grew 2.9%; gasoline sales would have otherwise benefitted comps 550 basis points (bp).
• Comps increased in all regions, the greatest of which were the Southeast and upstate New York regions.
• Excluding gasoline, traffic increased 5%; average transaction decreased 2%.
• Food sales increased approximately 4%. General merchandise sales were approximately flat year-over-year.
• Strong comps were seen in apparel, breakfast foods, candy, cigarettes, dairy, frozen, health and beauty aids, household chemicals, housewares, juices, paper products, produce, residential furniture, small appliances, and tires.
• Categories with weaker sales versus last year included automotive & tools, sporting goods, televisions, trash bags, and pre-recorded video.

Fiscal year-to-date sales increased 1.6% to USD 9.95 billion.

• Excluding gas, comps increased 4.0%; gasoline sales would have otherwise negatively impacted comps by 590 bp.

On January 30, 2010, BJ's operated 187 warehouse clubs in 15 US states.

Costco reported sales of USD 5.62 billion for the four-week period ended January 31, 2010, up 10% from the same four-week period a year ago. Sales for the YTD period were up 8% to USD 32.45 billion.

• Comparable club sales (comps) were up 4% in the US and 25% internationally, for a total company increase of 8%.
  • Excluding foreign currencies and gas inflation, comps would have been flat in the US and grown 9% internationally for a total company increase of 2%.
• Including the impact of gas and FX, average transaction size was up 4%, while traffic was up 3.5%.
• Cannibalization negatively impacted comps by approximately 60 basis points.
• Merchandise category performances were as follows:
  • Within food and sundries, candy, cooler, and deli led the way.  
  • Fresh foods posted slightly negative comps, with bakery and produce leading the way.
  • Within hardlines, the strongest results were in office, sporting goods, and hardware. Majors posted a mid single-digit comps decline, due to soft TV sales (due to a later Superbowl in 2010).
  • Within softlines, which had subcategories that grew over 20% year-over year, the strongest results were in housewares, small appliances, domestics, home furnishings, and apparel.
  • Gasoline, hearing aids, and photo posted the best results within Ancillary.
• In the US, the strongest performing regions were Texas, the Midwest, the Southeast, and Northeast.
• Internationally, the strongest performers were Canada and Korea.

On February 4, 2010, Costco operated 413 warehouses in the US and Puerto Rico, 77 in Canada, 21 in the UK, 7 in Korea, 6 in Taiwan, 9 in Japan, 32 in Mexico, and 1 in Australia.

Food Lion has launched its latest mobile marketing campaign, this time focusing on male skin care products. Shoppers can send a text message to Food Lion and receive coupons worth up to USD 4 by mail or have them linked to their loyalty cards.

Food Lion has run similar promotions for the upcoming Super Bowl and over the holidays.

As part of an overall restructuring of its US operations, Delhaize has announced a series of executive appointments:

• Cathy Green has been named President of the Food Lion, Bloom, Harvey’s, and Reid’s banners. She will be responsible for all operations of these banners including financial performance, marketing, merchandising, customer service, and pricing.
• Beth Newlands Campbell has been named President of Hannaford Brothers Supermarkets.
• Meg Ham has been named President of Bottom Dollar Food and will be responsible for its planned expansion.

hhgregg reported sales for the three months ended December 31, 2009, of USD 500.4 million. This brings the retailer’s fiscal year-to-date sales total to USD 1.1 billion, an 8.3% rise over last year. The retailer’s sales gains were attributed to new stores; there was a net addition of 19 stores over the past 12 months.

• Comparable store sales (comps) in Q3 declined 0.2%. The company explained this was driven by weakness in the video category. Sales of appliances improved this period.
• Net income increased 32.8% in the period to USD 22.7 million, driven by the increase in net sales and a slight decrease in operating expenses as a percentage of sales.
• Gross profit as a percentage of sales decreased 90 basis points (bp) year-over-year to 30.5%.
• Selling, General, and Administrative (SG&A) expenses decreased 20 bp, year-over-year.
• Net advertising expenses as a percentage of sales declined 90 bp, driven by reduced advertising costs and increases in vendor supported advertising.
• In fiscal 2011, the retailer expects to open approximately 40-45 stores in the mid-Atlantic region.
• hhgregg currently operates 127 stores in 11 states.

Kohl’s reported sales for the four-week January 2010 period of USD 798 million, a 10.7% increase from numbers reported for the comparable period last year.

• Comparable store sales (comps) increased 6.5%.
• The Southwest was the strongest performing region.
• Footwear and Women’s posted the strongest comps for the month.

Preliminary results for the fiscal 2009 period include a sales growth of 4.8% to USD 17.178 billion.

• Comps grew 0.4%.

On January 4 2010, Kohl’s operated 1,058 stores in 49 states.

OfficeMax announced plans to expand its office furniture private label brands, Brenton Studio and Eastleigh. The private brands are targeted toward value-conscious shoppers and complement the retailer’s private brand offerings, which include DiVOGA, [IN]PLACE, INFUSE, and TUL.

Rite Aid named Chris Hall, Senior Vice President (SVP) of Strategic Business Development, to the position of SVP of Pharmacy Business Development, reporting to Robert Thompson. Hall will oversee pharmaceutical purchasing analysis, strategy and execution, and acquisitions and retail pricing. Hall joined Rite Aid in 2000 as SVP and Chief Accounting Officer.

Rite Aid also appointed Matt Schroeder, Vice President (VP) of Financial Accounting and Treasury, to the position of Group VP of Strategy, Investor Relations, and Treasurer, reporting to Frank Vitrano. Schroeder will continue to oversee treasury while managing investor relations, risk management, and planning and business analysis. Schroeder began working at Rite Aid in 2000 as VP of Financial Accounting.  

Beginning January 31, 2010 and lasting through February 6, 2010, Target is offering up to USD 200 savings on select TVs. Additionally, guests who buy any 32-inch or larger TV on a REDcard account during this timeframe will have the option to receive zero-percent introductory financing until September 2010.

Walgreens launched a new Community Corner program, recognizing minority-owned businesses during the month of February. The program will feature products made by African-American vendors through print advertisements, in-store announcements, coupon books, shelf tags, in-store demonstrations, and Walgreens.com. This program is designed to help consumers identify and purchase products produced by diverse companies.  

Walgreens completed the acquisition of the assets of 12 Eaton Apothecary pharmacies in the greater Boston area. As of January 31, 2010, prescription records and staff from the Eaton Apothecary pharmacies in Salem and Gloucester were transitioned to nearby Walgreens locations.

To promote football party solutions, Walmart announced rollback deals up to USD 300 on select HDTVs. The retailer also promoted a USD 44 party feast to feed eight, which includes appetizers, hot dogs, and cookies.

Whole Food’s third store to be powered by an on-site fuel cell is currently under construction in San Jose, California and will join stores Dedham, Massachusetts and Glastonbury, Connecticut when completed. The 50,000 square foot store will get 90% of its electricity from the fuel cell system and will see its overall energy efficiency increase 60%.

When completed, the San Jose store will keep more than 370 metric tons of carbon dioxide from being released annually, equivalent to planting over 85 acres of trees. At the same time, nitrogen oxide emissions will be reduced equivalent to taking 92 cars off the road.