Retail

Although up against a soft comparative from the prior year, it is fair to say that Best Buy has produced a very robust set of second quarter numbers. The 4.9% increase in domestic sales underlines that the company is more than holding its own in the electricals market and should put pay to the oft repeated fiction that retailers of its ilk will struggle to survive in the era of Amazon.  

Evacuees from Hurricane Harvey seeking shelter at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas will find a pharmacy on-site to meet their immediate needs. The facility has been turned into a mini-city to house and care for what is expected to be 5,000 evacuees who are being bused and flown into Dallas from the regions devastated by the storm.   

The nation's largest shopping center operator is suing Starbucks Corp. over its plan to shutter the retailer's 78 Teavana stores in Simon malls.   In a lawsuit filed Aug. 21, Simon Property Group said that Starbucks is breaching its leases by closing the Teavana stores and “shirking its contractual obligations at the expense of Simon’s shopping centers and the dozens of communities they serve and support,” reported the Indianapolis Business Journal.   

More customers are making pet product purchases at Amazon — a practice that has increased category sales by 40%.   This was according to “U.S. Pet Market Focus: The Amazon Pet Food and Supplies Shopper,” a study from Packaged Facts.   

Best Buy reported better-than-expected profit and sales for its second quarter amid growth for smartphones, connected home and wearable devices. But the retailer added a slight caveat going forward.   Best Buy's same-store sales rose 5.2% in the quarter ended July 29, easily topping analysts’ estimates for a 2.1% gain. But on the chain's quarterly call with analysts, CEO Hubert Joly said that he did not think that the mid-single-digit rise in comparable sales would continue, and that it did not represent a "new normal."

The deals at Ollie's Bargain Outlets were too good for shoppers to pass up in the retailer's second quarter, which topped analysts' expectations.   The value retailer, whose motto is "Good Stuff Cheap," said that its net income increased 50.1% to $19.7 million, or $0.30 per diluted share, in the quarter ended Aug. 29, from $13.1 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted net income, increased 34.0% to $17.8 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, in the quarter.   

Domino's Pizza may be adding a new item to its take-out menu — driverless deliveries.   The pizza giant is teaming up with Ford Motor Co. to test how well self-driving vehicles can make pizza deliveries. The partners will evaluate how customers react to interacting with a self-driving vehicle within their delivery experience — data that is paramount to understanding how customers perceive the future of food delivery with self-driving vehicles.  

Target Corp. is giving Trader Joe's some competition — albeit at a slightly higher price — when it comes to bargain-priced wine.    On September 3, Target will launch its own line of wines at more than 1,100 stores nationwide. The line, called California Roots, consists of five different blends, with two whites and three reds. And each will sell for $5 a bottle.