Retail Sales v. Raging Inflation, Stimulus Miracle March, and the Red-Hot Shift to Services by Wolf Richter • Apr 14, 2022 • 212 Comments It’s rough out there in multiple ways.
After Having Blown $31 Billion on Share Buybacks to Prop Up its Shares, Starbucks Ends Them, to Invest in “Our People and Our Stores.” The New Old CEO Gets It. Shares Tank by Wolf Richter • Apr 4, 2022 • 106 Comments Great news, but not for the stock. Share buybacks gutted Starbucks. The SEC should again rule them illegal market manipulation, as it had until 1982.
Americans Make Huge Efforts to Keep up with Raging Prices by Wolf Richter • Mar 16, 2022 • 138 Comments Retail sales amid record worst inflation in durable goods and red-hot inflation in nondurable goods.
Americans Spent Money Like Drunken Sailors, But Did They Outspend the Raging Inflation in Durable & Nondurable Goods? Um, No by Wolf Richter • Feb 16, 2022 • 165 Comments Two elephants in retail: A historic spike in prices of goods and seasonal adjustments as the Pandemic upended seasonality.
Empty Shelf at a Grocery Store Near You? Tight Inventories, Labor Shortages, Supply Chain Snags, Strong Sales, Soaring Costs by Wolf Richter • Jan 17, 2022 • 258 Comments It shows how brittle the system has become in face of every new challenge.
Oh My, the American Consumer amid the Distortions and Price Spikes of Our Time by Wolf Richter • Jan 14, 2022 • 131 Comments “Not seasonally adjusted” retail sales spiked to a record. “Seasonally adjusted” retail sales fell. Both: +16.9% from year ago. What the heck is going on?
Brick-and-Mortar Meltdown Manhattan Style, Year 6: Have Retail-Shop Rents Collapsed Enough Yet? by Wolf Richter • Dec 21, 2021 • 105 Comments In a number of shopping corridors, asking rents collapsed by 50% to 73%, amid a slew of vacant stores. But in one corridor, rents jumped.
Inflation Magic: Retail Sales +19.5% Year-over-Year, But Flat with Blowout Oct, as Department Stores Sagged, Auto Dealers Had No Inventory, and Cannabis Stores? by Wolf Richter • Dec 15, 2021 • 105 Comments Spiking prices inflate retail sales across the board, but particularly at auto dealers and gas stations.
Best Buy Shares Plunge on Margin Pressures, “Organized Retail Crime”: A Look at Organized Retail Crime in the US and How Ecommerce Turned it into a Big Business by Wolf Richter • Nov 23, 2021 • 209 Comments Stolen goods get sold to law-abiding Americans by third-party vendors on big ecommerce sites that profit from it. Legislation to control it struggles.
CVS to Close 900 Stores, Convert Others from Retail to Services, as Ecommerce Competitors Gobble up Pharmacy Revenues by Wolf Richter • Nov 19, 2021 • 103 Comments Brick & Mortar Meltdown Continues.
