Latest news with #NeilSaunders
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
New data: US retail sales rise 0.6% despite higher costs
Worries about economic doom will have to wait another month. Americans kept shopping in June despite rising prices, anxiety over tariffs, and a recent dip in consumer confidence, according to new data released Thursday by the US Commerce Department. Retail sales rose 0.6 percent last month, which is a major boost compared to the 0.9 percent decline in May. Today's numbers end a three-month skid in retail sales: April's figures were also down 0.1 percent, dragged by a plunge in vehicle sales as Americans avoided paying for President Donald Trump 's initial slate of 25 percent automotive tariffs . But the June numbers were stronger than analysts expected. Economists predicted retail sales would rebound only 0.2 percent. Clothing and accessory stores' sales rose 0.9 percent, restaurants climbed 0.6 percent, and online retailers saw a 0.4 percent boost. Even excluding autos and parts, overall retail sales increased by 0.5 percent. 'June's retail sales were resilient and they show that the consumer is still willing and able to spend,' Neil Saunders, a retail expert at GlobalData, told 'They also underline the fact that while tariffs have created a lot of uncertainty, we have not yet seen the full impact on prices and the economy.' Saunders still sounded a warning for economic security for the second half of the year. The retail report arrives amid an increasingly unpredictable economic backdrop. The Labor Department said earlier this week that consumer prices rose 2.7 percent in June — the biggest jump since February. Analysts said that prices — especially among largely imported sectors like furniture, clothing, and coffee — are starting to tick up because of Trump's economic policy. But so far, Americans seem to continue spending, with a focus on deals and sales. Last week was a great example. Amazon started running its Prime Day sales , which ran for four straight days. Competing retailers like Target and Walmart also ran similar promotional events. Online spending last week bumped up to $24 billion. Analysts noted consumers favored lower-priced essentials like dish soap and paper towels over big-ticket electronics. Retailers are now eyeing the crucial back-to-school shopping season, which is expected to see a 3.3 percent increase in spending compared to last year. That potential spending boom has Wall Street analysts feeling bullish. 'A reassuring retail sales result comes at the perfect time as earnings season kicks into gear,' Bret Kenwell, a US investment analyst at eToro, told 'If earnings are more upbeat than expected and if management continues to tell a reassuring story about consumer spending, stocks could react favorably — even after a rally to record highs that some investors may view as overextended.' Still, there are concerns about how long Americans can keep up this pace of spending. A record number of retail purchases have been placed on credit cards, with Americans now owing $18.2 billion on consumer debt . That bill is becoming harder to pay off due to the Fed's above-four-percent interest rates . To stay afloat, shoppers are turning to riskier borrowing options like buy-now, pay-later and on-demand pay programs — both at record levels. The ability to service those debts will be key to watch, analysts told If payment plans falter, retail spending could tumble too.
Vancouver Sun
3 days ago
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Quebec's Couche-Tard ends bid for 7-Eleven parent company over 'lack of good faith engagement'
Canada's convenience store giant backed away from a blockbuster bid set to dramatically expanded its convenience store empire, when it pulled its proposal to buy the parent company of rival 7-Eleven on Wednesday. Alimentation Couche-Tard has spent nearly a year courting Seven & i Holdings Co., the Japanese conglomerate with thousands of 7-Eleven locations and a broader portfolio of supermarkets, food producers and financial services companies. Couche-Tard, which is based in Laval, Que., and owns Circle K and Ingo, ended its overtures Wednesday, accusing its takeover target of a 'persistent lack of good faith engagement.' Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Couche-Tard said it repeatedly sought a friendly dialogue with Seven & i's founding Ito family but alleges it was not open to any conversation about the proposal of ¥2,600 (C$24.04) per ordinary share in cash. The Canadian company further charged that in meetings that were 'tightly scripted' and ran for half the allotted time, management also wasn't willing to address basic questions about industry dynamics. 'There has been no sincere or constructive engagement from 7&i that would facilitate the advancement of any proposal, contrary to comments made publicly by 7&i representatives, including in the July 11, 2025 earnings call in which 7&i noted it is 'seriously' considering our proposal,' Couche-Tard executives said in a letter sent to Seven & i's board and released to media. Seven & i did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Had the deal progressed, it would have handed Couche-Tard a dominant position in the global convenience store game. Its network already covers 29 countries and more than 17,000 stores. By comparison, Seven & i's website operates about 85,800 stores, has about 157,177 employees and counts 63.6 million customer visits per day. When a deal between the two was first bandied around last year, Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said 7-Eleven's 14.5 per cent market share made it the biggest operator in the convenience retail store space, while Couche-Tard's banners hold about 4.6 per cent. 'Combining the two would produce an entity that controls almost a fifth of the market,' he wrote in an email at the time. The public first learned Couche-Tard had made a friendly offer for Seven & i last August. The financial terms were never revealed until a month later, when Seven & i said its board of directors unanimously concluded Couche-Tard's initial offer was not in its shareholders' best interests because it was 'opportunistically timed and grossly undervalues' the business. That October, Seven & i said it received a revised pitch from Couche-Tard. Media reports suggested the new offer valued Seven & i at US$47 billion, about 22 per cent higher than an offer of $38.6 billion Couche-Tard made in August. The Japanese company appeared to be poised to rebuff that offer as well, when a member of the Ito family put forward a new management buyout proposal. That proposal failed to secure financing, improving Couche-Tard's odds at a deal, but Seven & i maintained it had several worries. The main one was that it would be too hard to nab regulatory approvals for an acquisition because some would see the deal as reducing competition across several markets. Couche-Tard wasn't giving up. It said Wednesday that in December it offered a compelling reverse termination fee which represented approximately $1.2 billion in value, increasing to over $1.4 billion if the Federal Trade Commission indicated that additional stores would need to be divested. In January, it submitted a revised, yen-based, non-binding proposal to fulfill a request from Seven & i seeking proof of its continued interest in a deal. The moves got Seven & i to agree to collaborate on assembling a portfolio of stores the companies could divest to appease regulators. Keen to get a deal done, Couche-Tard said it told Seven & I it was willing to explore a structure where it would acquire 100 per cent of its business outside of Japan and 40 per cent in the country. On July 1, Couche-Tard alleged Seven & I proposed an alternate — Seven & i would 'contribute' 7-Eleven into Couche-Tard in return for equity ownership in the Canadian firm. Couche-Tard said it didn't like the offer because it wouldn't 'deliver the significant premium that was offered to your shareholders in our transaction proposals and, in our view, would undermine the operational prospects of the combined business.' It said it ultimately decided to withdraw its proposal because the Japanese company 'engaged in a calculated campaign of obfuscation and delay, to the great detriment of 7&i and its shareholders.' Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Target is opening stores across 22 states... here's where your nearest will be
Target is opening stores in 22 states, adding to nearly 2,000 already operating in the US. The company announced plans to launch 48 stores 'from the Big Apple to the California coast and in between.' Future stores are selected based on factors like community needs, site constraints, and where Target stores are already operating. Out of the 48 stores, Florida and Texas tie for the most location opening count at six. Other states that will get one or more new Target stores are Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Kentucky, Ohio, Massachusetts, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah. The news of the store openings comes as the company has suffered a sales slump, and some employees have become fearful of potential job losses. Several employees have also leaked price rises on various products due to President Donald Trump's tariffs. The US economy had already been concerning for shoppers due to inflation and constant fears of recession. Target recently had a disappointing first quarter after sales dropped by 2.8 percent to $23.85 billion. Part of the reason behind the soft sales was a widespread boycott of the company for ditching its DEI efforts. Retail expert Neil Saunders, of GlobalData, believes the store openings will 'boost sales and add to Target's revenue.' Even though its sales were unimpressive in the first quarter of the year, the company highlighted an increase in digital sales, including its delivery services through Target 360. The retailer has begun working on ways to get back on track financially, including self-checkout station removals. It's also reportedly testing a new shipping model, which would deliver products directly to customers' homes from factories. The company is expecting a low-single-digit decline in sales this year. 'Target needs to remain sharp on pricing as consumers are weary of inflation and it faces increased competition from chains like Walmart. If Target doesn't remain competitive on price it will lose customers,' Saunders told Walmart, one of Target's biggest competitors, has also struggled in recent months. The chain warned shoppers in November about price hikes that could take effect if tariffs imposed by Trump were to go through. The company, along with Target, issued another statement about increases, which ultimately became a reality in May. The retailer also announced it would lay off around 1,500 workers. But this hasn't stopped the chain from working on its massive revamp or implementing AI-powered 'Scan & Go' technology at Sam's Club. has reached out to Target for comment about store opening dates.
Daily Mail
08-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Fears for mass closures as dollar store sold off after failed partnership
Family Dollar is going it alone. The discount chain, which merged with Dollar Tree in 2015 after a $9 billion sale, has now been sold to two private equity firms. Ink dried on the $1 billion deal late Monday night. Brigade Capital Management and Macellum Capital Management will take over operations for the chain's 7,000-store portfolio. Shoppers have expressed concern that the private equity takeover could lead to a wave of closures. Family Dollar shuttered hundreds of stores just last year. 'A lot of them will be closing soon,' one customer worried on Reddit. 'It will probably take two to three years.' But experts are pouring cold water on predictions of mass closures in the immediate future. 'Quite a number of Family Dollar stores have already been earmarked for closure, so we're unlikely to see loads more shut in the near term,' Neil Saunders, a retail analyst at GlobalData, told 'However, the new owners will review the state of the business and might optimize the store network further.' The sale ends a decade-long relationship between Dollar Tree and Family Dollar — one that Saunders said never quite worked. 'The acquisition of Family Dollar was not successful for Dollar Tree,' Saunders said. 'Despite pumping money into it, they never managed to make the chain work.' On paper, the brands seemed like a perfect fit. Family Dollar stores are mostly located in major cities and stock groceries, cleaning supplies, and other low-cost essentials. Dollar Tree stores tend to cater to middle-income communities with affordable crafts, party goods, and seasonal decorations. The idea was that each chain would complement the other, giving the combined company greater scale and pricing power. The two even launched hundreds of combo stores blending their product mixes. Last year, Family Dollar closed close to 700 stores as it attempted to claw back profitability Instead, Family Dollar became a drag on profits. It's stores have been plagued by shrinking sales, shoplifting, and aging product lineups. It also failed to keep pace with rising competition from digital-first retailers like Temu, Shein, and Amazon — and even legacy giants like Walmart. In 2024, nearly 700 Family Dollar stores were permanently shuttered in a last-ditch effort to salvage the merger. Now, Dollar Tree's leadership appears relieved to be moving on. 'The completion of this transaction marks a defining moment for Dollar Tree,' Mike Creedon, Dollar Tree's top boss, said.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
J.C. Penney to hold down prices for back to school, holiday despite Q1 declines
This story was originally published on Retail Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Retail Dive newsletter. J.C. Penney's total Q1 net sales fell 4.3% year over year to $1.3 billion, according to financial filings Monday. Exceeding expectations were JCPBeauty, which saw double-digit year-on-year comp sales, along with fine jewelry, home, men's and kids'. Net loss widened 9.5% to $69 million. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA swung into the black, reaching $2 million from last year's negative $3 million; this year's result excludes one-time restructuring charges, mostly vendor write-offs and other severance charges. The department store warned that tariffs threaten profits but also stated that it 'plans to maintain pre-tariff pricing on back-to-school basics and other key holiday areas.' Despite the sales and profit declines, this was a decent quarter for J.C. Penney, given that 'sales are now deteriorating at a much shallower pace than previously,' according to GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders. 'This isn't exactly a win – especially as the decline comes off the back of weakness in the prior year – but it provides a little comfort that JCP is not on a headlong dash to irrelevance,' he said by email. The department store's recently unveiled 'Yes, J.C. Penney' campaign helped boost traffic by 600 basis points year over year and brand search by 22%, according to its filing. This is backed up by research from which found that, after ads began running in April, 'traffic to the chain picked up significantly,' with visits to stores up 0.7% in April and 3% in May compared to last year. In some areas, those included single shoppers, which suggests that younger consumers are discovering the brand, per report. The retailer's integration into Catalyst Brands earlier this year is also paying off, according to the filing. Synergies from the January tie-up with various Authentic Brands Group brands and their operators helped bring selling, general and administrative costs down by $36 million compared to a year ago. The more modest declines in Q1 mean that Penney is not the worst-performing department store, which Saunders said was its fortune for the better part of last year. 'Again, this is a crumb of comfort, but it will provide some confidence to management. It also underlines that the work the company has done to improve stores and invest in ranges might be having an impact,' he said. 'The losses remain a modest concern but given JCP's wider financial position and its place as part of a larger group, it is not a disaster.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
