Shop Talk
Retailers, consumers and prices
Target wants shoppers to squeeze the (supersized) Charmin
Grab that shopping cart – you’re going to need it.
To lure post holiday shoppers this year, Target has scrapped its typical plan of stocking its stores with exotic home goods sourced from across this globe.
Instead, it has cleared out the Christmas trees and holiday lights to make room for a mini warehouse club.
Target is stocking 12-packs of giant up & up paper towels for $13.49, and 24-packs of triple roll Charmin toilet paper for $17.99.
Mixed in with the bulk-sized packages, Target is putting in “treasure hunt” items — a tactic used at No. 1 U.S. warehouse club giant Costco. It will be selling Ed Hardy handbags and shirts for between $34.99 and $64.99, and Ralph Lauren polo shirts for boys and girls for less than $25.
But Costco doesn’t have to worry about Target becoming a direct competitor – at least not yet. Kathee Tesija, Target’s executive vice president of merchandising, told Reuters the retailer will only offer what it is calling “The Great Save” until February 21. But if you’re lucky and that supersized package of Charmin is a hit with shoppers it might just wind up in Target’s normal product assortment.
(Image provided by Target)
Check Out Line: Food vs foreign currency
Check Out Sara Lee and Kraft Foods joining the “stronger dollar” bandwagon.
Both food makers cut their profit forecasts for the current year, citing the pain they expect from the stronger U.S. dollar decreasing the value of sales from international markets.
But currency alone is not to blame for oversease woes.
Sara Lee said it is seeing pressure in certain overseas markets due to worsening economic conditions.
“In our international business we are adjusting our plans and refocusing our resources to help offset significant economic downturns in many of our key markets, most notably Spain, France and the United Kingdom,” sad Brenda Barnes, the company’s chief executive officer.
Meanwhile, Kraft’s CEO said the company is seeing a slowdown in sales growth in the EU and developing markets.
Sara Lee, which makes Jimmy Dean breakfast sausages and its namesake bakery products, and Kraft, which sells Oreo cookies and its namesake cheese, have also faced increased competition from private label manufacturers as shoppers seek to save every dollar they can amid a deepening global recession.
Check Out Line: Quarterly results served with a side of caution
Check out quarterly results being dished up with a big side of caution.
Polo Ralph Lauren reported higher second quarter profit, citing increased sales and a lower tax rate.
Polo, whose brands include Polo, Chaps and Club Monaco, affirmed its earnings outlook for fiscal 2009, but it tempered its full-year sales forecast. It now expects a low single-digit increase in 2009 revenue, instead of a low-to-mid single digit increase as earlier expected.
Meanwhile, Maidenform Brands posted better-than-expected third-quarter results as it sold more of its undergarments to department stores and national retail chains.
But as customers like Boscov’s and Mervyns go out of business, it cut its 2008 earnings per share forecast to $1.17 to $1.21 from a prior outlook of $1.22 to $1.30. Maidenform also expects full year net sales to be flat to down 1 percent, compared with a previous view for net sales to be down 1 percent to up 1 percent.
K-Swiss posted better-than-expected quarterly results, helped by the acquisition of Palladium SAS, and raised its 2008 outlook. But the company, which sells its products under the K-Swiss and Royal Elastics brands in the United States and Europe, said the uncertainty caused by the credit markets disruption and likely recession present substantial challenges.
“Excluding Palladium, our financial results and backlog confirm the deteriorating global outlook for K-Swiss in 2008 and 2009,” according to Chairman Steven Nichols.
Black Friday ads popping up online
It’s that time of year again – supposed Black Friday ads are now starting to appear on online.
Numerous websites have cropped up in recent years that publish what they claim are copies of the newspaper ads retailers will run for Black Friday — the day after Thanksgiving that marks the ultra-competitive launch of the holiday shopping season.
BFAds sent an email early Monday morning, saying it had posted a Harbor Freight Black Friday advertisement on its site. It also said it “got word” about Polo Ralph Lauren’s “Midnight Madness” sale. The Polo event, being held at its outlet stores, invites shoppers to “join us after your Thanksgiving dinner” and get 20 percent off purchases of $150 or more – starting at midnight Thursday into Friday morning.
BlackFriday.info shows deals from Ace Hardware, Harbor Freight and Toys “R” Us.
While shoppers flock to the websites to put together a post-Thanksgiving shopping strategy, the sites can raise the ire of retailers.
BlackFriday.info’s website says it has removed a Big Lots ad after the retailer’s general counsel sent them a letter, claiming they had a copyright on sale prices and would take action if the site posted its ad. BFAds said in its email that Walmart is not allowing them to post their advertisement until the week of Black Friday.
“However, there is also good news, as several other retailers have mentioned that they will be having competitively-priced sales in the weeks before Black Friday,” the email says. “It looks like once again, some of the best deals this year may be had before the doors even open on November 28th.”
Walmart had the best ad for Black Friday 2008. I was disappointed that no one had the $199 laptop and/or $99 desktop. Hopefully the ads for 2009 will be even better than 2008
-
Resident Shop Talk Expert
-
