Discount Store

Cambridge, Mass. -- Dollar General is the overall basket price leader delivering a substantial savings to value shoppers, according to Kantar Retail’s second annual opening price point (OPP) survey. Walgreens, for the second year, had the most expensive total basket, driven by sharply higher edible and non-edible grocery baskets  

Family Dollar – like Dollar General – is opening stores as fast as it can and this week said it would add 500 new units ahead of what is expected to be an announcement by Walmart next week to accelerate growth of its own small format.

Target this week joined the ranks of retailers who will no longer provide monthly sales and in the process denied Walmart merchants insight into the performance of a chief rival.

New York -- Costco Wholesale Corp. reported a better-than-expected 6% rise in September same-store sales, helped by higher gasoline prices and a stronger dollar. Excluding the impact of gasoline prices and foreign exchange, comparable September same-store sales rose 5%.

Net sales rose 8% to $9.31 billion in the five weeks ended Sept. 30. Costco, which currently operates 608 warehouses, said it plans to open up to 14 new warehouses prior to the end of calendar year 2012.

NEW YORK — Costco Wholesale Corp. reported a better-than-expected 6% rise in September same-store sales, helped by higher gasoline prices and a stronger dollar. Excluding the impact of gasoline prices and foreign exchange, comparable September same-store sales rose 5%.

Net sales rose 8% to $9.31 billion in the five weeks ended Sept. 30. Costco, which currently operates 608 warehouses, said it plans to open up to 14 new warehouses prior to the end of calendar year 2012.

Target’s senior executive ranks are filled with women, but don’t look for any of them on Fortune’s recent listing of the 50 most powerful women.

Topping the list in the October 8 issue is IBM president and CEO Ginni Rometty followed by PepsiCo chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi, Hewlett-Packard president and CEO Meg Whitman and Kraft Foods chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld. Gracing the cover is Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer who recently defected from Google.

New York -- Target Corp. will soon join the ranks of retailers who are no longer reporting monthly same-store sales. The discounter on Thursday said it will no longer report comparable sales, beginning in fiscal 2013.

Three top executives from Walmart were among the 50 most powerful women recognized recently by Fortune.

The business publication put Sam’s Club president and CEO Rosalind Brewer at 12th on the list with Walmart U.S. EVP and COO Gisel Ruiz ranked 21st. Also making the list in 36^{th place was Susan Chambers, Walmart’s EVP of the global people division.}