EVENTS TO WATCH
COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS
TGT - Target Corp. to lay off 1,700, eliminate 1,400 open jobs in restructuring
Takeaway: There has already been so much coverage of this announcement, and rightly so. When the 3rd largest retailer in the country cuts 13% of HQ workforce, that's a big deal. If we add in the 1400 open job reqs and the 550 TGT Canada employees who were let go last month, Target actually reduced its fully staffed Steinhafel regime workforce by 24%. On an annualized basis it would equate to $170mm in cost savings at an average salary of $100K. That's about 20bps of margin and gets the company about 10% of the way to it's $2bil cost saving plan. But, this isn't the only labor issue facing Target. By our math, the WMT wage hikes extrapolated to TGT could mean 75bps in margin headwind at the store level.
FINL, FL, AdiBok - Finish Line Launches Mall-Exclusive Reebok ZPump Fusion
(http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=81647&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2024219)
Takeaway: This press release from FINL and Rbk is so wrong for some many reasons. For starters, why is FINL pumping Reebok's tires? They get exclusive running silhouettes from Nike all the time and don't utter a peep to the street. Could it be that this technology revolutionizes running, maybe…but we are highly skeptical. The most likely explanation is that Reebok helped offset the cost of FINL's ad-cost. Something that Nike has pulled back on over the past 5yrs.
AMZN, EBAY - Positive 2yr trend for Amazon
Takeaway: Both companies saw a slight pop in the 2yr run rate in February. For AMZN, we would have expected more given that the company included 3rd party sellers (which this data source tracks) into its free shipping minimum calculation.
VRA, BWS, EXPR - SIGMAs
OTHER NEWS
AAPL - The Ugly Truth: Why the Apple Watch Already Needs A Facelift
ICSC applauds as Marketplace Fairness Act of 2015 introduced in Congress
(http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/icsc-applauds-marketplace-fairness-act-2015-introduced-congress)
RAD - New store puts Rite-Aid back in growth game
(http://www.retailingtoday.com/article/new-store-puts-rite-aid-back-growth-game)
HBC - Saks Fifth Avenue selling Disney dream
(http://www.retailingtoday.com/article/saks-fifth-avenue-selling-disney-dream)
GOOG - Google enters bricks-and-mortar retail space through Dixons Carphone tie-up
FIVE - Five Below entering Alabama; to open total of 70 stores in 2015
(http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/five-below-entering-alabama-open-total-70-stores-2015)