ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Costco Wholesale Corp., even more than most retailers, has a business model built around efficiency. The company offers a limited selection of products, most of them available in only the most popular flavor, color or size, which results in high sales volumes and rapid inventory turns. Combined with the operating efficiencies achieved
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer Inc.’s guiding philosophy is the “virtuous cycle,” meaning it turns growth and profitability into community investments. Its communities in turn thrive and boost business at Meijer, perpetuating the cycle. “When we invest in our communities and customers and give them popular offerings, whether digital shopping or locally produced items or
MINNEAPOLIS — Target’s stunning financial success in recent years is the fruit of several inspired strategic decisions, including executing a thoughtfully curated merchandising assortment that spans categories and has been paramount to the evolving consumer needs over the past year. Jill Sando, a 24-year company veteran and now chief merchandising officer, has played a central
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart recruited Janey Whiteside three and a half years ago to fill the newly created position of chief customer officer, a title that came with a mandate to build innovative services and solutions that help customers live better. For Whiteside and her team, that meant getting to know customers better. “Customer needs
SEATTLE — Amazon has revolutionized American retailing. Already by far the dominant force in e-commerce, over the past five years the online behemoth has made serious moves to develop its brick-and-mortar presence and become a major player in omnichannel grocery retailing. With vast resources, a keen strategic grasp of the opportunities before it and a
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart is scaling up its InHome delivery service, with plans to make it available to 30 million households (up from 6 million now) by the end of the year. To that end, the company said that it plans to hire more than 3,000 associate delivery drivers this year and will build out
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Midwestern grocer Hy-Vee Inc. sees growth opportunities to the south and east. The retailer has confirmed plans to expand into the Indianapolis; Nashville; and Louisville, Ky., markets as part of the next phase of its expansion plan. The Des Moines Register reported last month that Hy-Vee plans to expand into
PURCHASE, N.Y. — Retail sales (excluding automotive) increased 8.5% year over year this holiday season, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. Online sales grew 11% compared to the same period last year, the preliminary insights show. Mastercard SpendingPulse, which measures in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment, defines the holiday season as running from
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens Boots Alliance’s (WBA’s) first quarter sales and profits topped Wall Street’s expectations, and its own. Customers flocking to stores for COVID vaccines and tests helped drive a 7.8% increase in sales, to $33.9 billion, for the three-month period ended November 30. That easily topped analysts’ prediction of $32.7 billion. Adjusted earnings
SAN ANTONIO — H-E-B in late December celebrated the opening of its newest store with a New Year’s Eve-inspired ball drop, welcoming shoppers to the El Dorado H-E-B outlet in Webster, Texas, in the Houston suburbs. The ball dropped during the opening ceremony featured a metal shingle design resembling the underside of the Space Shuttle,
Later this year, 60 years will have passed since the first Walmart opened its doors in Rogers, Ark., the town that borders the retailer’s Bentonville headquarters. Put another way, most Americans don’t remember the United States without a Walmart at which to shop or peruse or merely gossip about or await the day when the
Walgreens Boots Alliance is off to a fast start on the transformational journey that chief executive officer Roz Brewer mapped out at the company’s investor conference last fall. Results for the first quarter of the fiscal year were impressive — sales rose 7.6% on a constant currency basis, while adjusted earnings per share increased 53%,