Family Dollar and Dollar Tree are closing 1,000 stores

Important Takeaways:

  • Another One Bites the Dust With Bidenomics: Family Dollar and Dollar Tree to Close 1,000 Stores
  • As my colleague Bonchie pointed out earlier Wednesday, if Sleepy Joe and crew expected a bounce from the State of the Union yell fest, what they received was a thud. Panic Time for Democrats As Joe Biden Gets No Bump From Terrible State of the Union Speech
  • Family Dollar, the struggling discount chain that caters to low-income customers predominantly in cities, will close about 1,000 stores as inflation takes a bite out of consumers’ wallets and low-cost-retailers’ profits.
  • Family Dollar will close 600 locations in the first half of 2024 and 370 stores over the next several years as store leases expire.
  • Dollar Tree, which owns Family Dollar, also said it will close 30 stores as leases expire
  • Inflation gave Team Bidenomics a swift kick in the pants. It rose by 0.4% in February, the highest monthly increase since September, pushing the year-to-year rate to 3.2%, compared to 3.1% for the January year-to-year rate. Economists had expected a 3.1% year-to-year rate in February.
  • The White House is pushing the story that “volatile” gasoline prices—and probably predatory price-gouging by gas station owners—are to blame, but the data say something different. The Core Consumer Price Index has increased steadily for seven months.
  • A couple more increases like this over the next couple of months leading into the summer are probably going to put some doubt into whether or not the Fed will reduce interest rates in any way

Read the original article by clicking here.

If they steal it, stop carrying it. That’s what stores are doing to deter theft

Theft-Deterrence

Important Takeaways:

  • Dollar Tree taking ‘very defensive approach’ to shoplifting, CEO says
  • Other companies such as Walmart and Target have raised the alarm on shoplifting and organized retail crime in recent weeks.
  • The 2022 edition of the annual retail security survey from the National Retail Federation found that total losses from shrink increased roughly 4% in 2021, coming in at $94.5 billion. The survey, which came out in mid-September, linked the losses “primarily” to external theft like organized retail crime.
  • Dollar Tree CEO says stores will discontinue carrying items they can’t keep on shelves due to theft

Read the original article by clicking here.

Wall Street hits new record high on Disney, Best Buy

Wall Street hits new record high on Disney, Best Buy
By Arjun Panchadar

(Reuters) – Wall Street’s three main indexes hit all-time highs on Tuesday, as gains for Disney and Best Buy countered weak consumer confidence data and a slump in shares of discount store operator Dollar Tree.

Walt Disney Co was the top boost to the Dow Jones with a 1.8% rise, after a report its streaming service was averaging nearly a million new subscribers a day. The stock also propped up the benchmark S&P 500.

Rising hopes of a U.S.-China trade truce, upbeat domestic economic data and a third-quarter corporate earnings season that has largely topped lowered expectations have put the market back on an upward track after a torrid summer.

Beijing said on Tuesday negotiators had reached a consensus on “resolving relevant problems”. Hours later, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said Washington was getting “really close” to a deal, but sticking points remained.

“They keep talking about the ‘phase one’ deal being done possibly soon, but every day is sort of a ping pong back-and-forth of will they or won’t they,” said Everett Millman, precious metals expert with Gainesville Coins in Tampa, Florida.

A third interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve this year has also played a role in boosting risk appetite, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Monday monetary policy was “well positioned” to support the strong labor market.

However, doubts over the strength of the U.S. consumer linger and data on Tuesday showed the Conference Board’s U.S. consumer confidence index missed analysts’ projections.

At 10:31 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average  was up 20.16 points, or 0.07%, at 28,086.63, while the S&P 500 <.SPX> was up 2.10 points, or 0.07%, at 3,135.74. The Nasdaq Composite was up 11.59 points, or 0.13%, at 8,644.08.

Best Buy Co Inc  jumped 7.4% as it forecast strong holiday-quarter earnings, while discount store operator Dollar Tree Inc tumbled 15% after the company projected holiday-quarter profit below expectations, signaling the fallout from the trade dispute. The stock was the biggest on the S&P and the Nasdaq.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co fell 7.9% as the enterprise software maker missed fourth-quarter revenue estimates.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.50-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.37-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 25 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 78 new highs and 35 new lows.

(Reporting by Arjun Panchadar and Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)