Takeaway: ICSC - good sign for retailers as they close out 2nd quarter. NKE salutes Jeter.

EVENTS TO WATCH

Wednesday (7/16)

EBAY - Earnings Call: 5:00pm

Friday (7/18)

VFC - Earnings Call: 8:30am

ECONOMIC DATA

 

ICSC - Chain Store Sales Index

 

Takeaway:  Yet another huge week of growth as measured by the ICSC Index. We're coming against some really ugly numbers last year, so it's appropriate to look at the 2-year comp, which is in the second chart below.  All in, trends are very consistent with prior weeks, running just north of 3%. While that's far below the absolute 1-year weekly reading, it's still very respectable by any means. Definitely a good sign for retailers as they close out the second quarter.

Retail Callouts (7/15): ICSC, NKE, JWN - Chart1 7 15 2014

Retail Callouts (7/15): ICSC, NKE, JWN - Chart3   ICSC 2yr 7 15 2014

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

NKE - Nike Says Farewell to Jeter in Showcase of Biggest Athletes

(http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-14/nike-says-farewell-to-jeter-in-showcase-of-highest-paid-athletes.html)

  • "What does $120 million a year in Nike-sponsored talent look like?  Just watch the shoe company’s new commercial, which commemorates the final season of Derek Jeter’s professional baseball career. The ad, called 'RE2PECT,' serves as a showcase for other athletes with Nike Inc. endorsement deals, including top moneymakers Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods."
  • "Other than Michael Jordan himself, Jeter has had more Jordan Brand shoes than any athlete."

Takeaway: Classy move by Nike in honoring one of its highest-profile yet lowest-beta athletes ever. It's so rare for an athlete to earn such tremendous respect from fans (and even many Yankee haters), and sustain it over an entire career without blowing it like we've seen from so many other athletes (Lance, Tiger, Kobe -- even Jordan has had some moments he'd like to forget). We'd like to think to think that the highlight of Jeter's endorsement career with Nike is when they brought him into a room full of analysts and investors in 2000 on his birthday, where the gnarly looking group of analysts sang Happy Birthday to him. He then fielded questions, and yes, someone asked him about SG&A. He answered it like a champ ("Not sure if I know what SG&A is, but I know Nike needs to spend more money on athletes.").

 

OTHER NEWS

JWN - Nordstrom in Talks to Buy Trunk Club, a Men’s Personal Shopper Service

(http://recode.net/2014/07/14/nordstrom-in-talks-to-buy-trunk-club-a-mens-personal-shopper-service/)

  • "The Seattle-based, high-end retailer has recently held acquisition talks with Trunk Club, an e-commerce company that offers a personal styling service for men, according to people familiar with the talks."
  • "Trunk Club customers consult with a stylist and then receive a mailing that contains an array of clothing options, such as jeans, shoes and blazers. Customers keep and pay for the items they want and mail the rest back for free." 

Retail sales growth slows sharply in June - BRC

(http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/07/15/uk-britain-retail-brc-idUKKBN0FJ2O920140715)

  • "British retail sales growth slowed in June to one of its weakest rates in three years, possibly in response to fears of higher interest rates, industry figures showed on Tuesday, adding to recent lackluster economic data."
  • "The British Retail Consortium said total retail spending in June was just 0.6 percent higher than a year before, the lowest growth rate since May 2011 if annual volatility caused by the timing of Easter is excluded."

 

BBBY - Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. Prices $1.5 Billion Of Senior Unsecured Notes, Announces Planned $1.1 Billion Accelerated Share Repurchase And Planned $250 Million Revolving Credit Facility

(http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97860&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1947350&highlight=)

  • "Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. today announced the pricing of three series of senior unsecured notes for an aggregate principal amount of $1.5 billion."
  • "The Company also announced it intends, subject to business and market conditions, to enter into an accelerated share repurchase agreement to repurchase an aggregate of $1.1 billion of the Company's common stock following the closing of the notes offering."

China Policy Hits Cotton Prices

(http://www.wwd.com/markets-news/textiles/china-policy-hits-cotton-prices-7799222?module=hp-market)

  • "China is unwinding its massive stockpiles of cotton and readying to implement direct-farmer subsidies, potentially depressing global prices of the raw material.