Walmart announced a strategic entertainment joint venture with interactive video technology company Eko to develop original content to “connect with customers in new and more meaningful ways,” it said Thursday. Eko CEO Yoni Bloch said “all forms of media are personalized except for live action video,” and Eko’s mission is to accelerate video’s evolution. Scott McCall, Walmart U.S. senior vice president-entertainment, toys and seasonal, said the collaboration W*E Interactive Ventures is part of an overall entertainment ecosystem Walmart is building, which includes physical and digital video presence in stores and on websites via the Vudu digital platform, Walmart eBooks platform and with Rakuten Kobo. Eko received prior funding from Sequoia Capital, Intel Capital, Warner Music Group, Samsung, Walmart and others, and has more than 15 patents. Walmart agreed to participate in Eko’s next funding round.
A vinyl industry organization hopes to steer enthusiasts into record stores on Black Friday with the lure of hard-to-find LPs, blogged the Record Store Day group. The organization, which works with labels, artists, managers and distribution companies in the vinyl industry, organizes the annual Record Store Day in the spring, and its fall event is designed to counter the “super-cheap prices” of Black Friday, it said. “We like the idea of a shopping season, especially when that shopping is, at its heart, a way to show the people you like that you like them,” it said, also promoting “gift-getting.” The list of LPs for this season, available first at participating RSD Black Friday events, may be available at record stores throughout the year, it said. Categories of LPs included in the event, available to independent businesses that sell records, are (1) exclusives available only at record stores; (2) titles that appear first at participating stores; and (3) small-run or regional titles that may be hard to find nationwide. Some 158 titles are on this year’s Black Friday list, covering a range of formats including 7-inch, 10-inch and LP vinyl, LP Picture Disc and multi-LP sets. A few CDs sneaked in, we found. Recordings largely fall into jazz, rock, pop, country and alternative genres and artists range from popular (Taylor Swift, The Beatles, Grateful Dead, Guns N’ Roses, Ella Fitzgerald) to obscure. Production runs range from 400 units of Blue Frog … and Others by Orchestra Di Enrico Simonetti to 7,000 for U2’s Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me. Record Store Day doesn’t give or sell the releases to participating stores, leaving each indie record store to make its own buying decisions, it said, and because of limited runs, a store may not get all the copies it wants, or it may sell out of a release. While Record Store Day Black Friday releases will be available only in participating physical record stores on the day of their release, stores with a year-round online website -- or that sell through marketplaces at non-auction prices under their store name -- may offer the titles on the Black Friday list for sale online, said RSD. It encouraged consumers to make sure they buy from a record store “so you know you're paying a fair price and supporting an independent business.”
Video & Audio Center started construction on a space just outside of its Westfield Century City, California, mall store to turn the area into a “gallery,” spokesman Tom Campbell told us Friday. Its goal is to have the space open in 45 days, “in time for holiday shopping,” he said. The area had been designated for education for the retailer’s One Touch Audio and Video custom installation business, when the store opened in January (see 1801260025). Video & Audio Center hopes to feature technology from different manufacturers each month in the high-traffic location, Campbell said, describing the showcase as a “somewhat enclosed” structure made of granite and glass.
Sonos closed its London retail store Sept. 9, said U.K. trade publication ERT Wednesday, which said the audio company also plans to shutter its Berlin store in January. Sonos didn’t respond to questions Friday.
Walmart shares soared 9.3 percent Thursday to $98.64 after its Q2 FY 2019 earnings report showing revenue grew 3.8 percent year on year in the quarter ended July 27 to $128 billion. U.S. revenue jumped 5.2 percent vs. the year-ago quarter to $82.8 billion, and U.S. e-commerce sales jumped 40 percent, Walmart said. Sam’s Club revenue declined 0.6 percent to $14.8 billion, but comp sales rose 5 percent for its strongest comps growth in six years, Walmart said. U.S. comparable store sales growth of 4.5 percent vs. the prior year was the steepest in over 10 years, led by grocery, apparel and seasonal sales, while electronics had the highest growth in four years due to an “elevated assortment” of TVs, audio and wearables, said the retailer. TV sales in Mexico had an uptick on World Cup interest, it said. Sam’s Club electronic sales were positive for TVs, audio and office, offsetting sluggishness in imaging, surveillance and tablets, it said. Traffic in the quarter grew 2.2 percent and ticket growth was up 2.3 percent, it said. Walmart upped its guidance for FY 2019 comp sales, now expecting 3 percent growth from 2 percent previously. The retailer has a “favorable inventory position” in preparation for the holiday season, with total inventory decreasing 30 basis points vs. Q2 2017; comp store inventory declined about 70 basis points, while in-stock levels remained high, it said. The company opened four Supercenters and one Neighborhood Market in Q2, and it remodeled 154 stores.
July retail sales increased 0.4 percent sequentially from June and 4.9 percent year over year, “as consumers continued to spend despite concerns about the growing trade war,” said the National Retail Federation Wednesday. Consumer spending is the “backbone of the current economic expansion,” but “uncertainty” over the Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports is the potential “fly in the ointment,” said NRF: “If they escalate, they will no doubt weigh on confidence and household spending.” Retail sales at electronics and appliance stores were up 4.2 percent year over year in July, 0.1 percent sequentially from June, said NRF. Overall online sales were up 11.3 percent year-over-year and 0.8 sequentially, it said. NRF upgraded its 2018 retail sales forecast Monday, despite tariffs remaining a big worry (see 1808130009).
The National Retail Federation upgraded its 2018 retail forecast, for sales to increase 4.5 percent “at a minimum” over 2017, it said Monday. NRF’s February forecast was 3.8-4.4 percent. “Tax reform and economic stimulus have created jobs and put more money in consumers’ pockets, and retailers are seeing it in their bottom line,” said NRF President Matthew Shay. “We knew this would be a good year, but the first half turned out to be even better than expected,” when retail sales increased 4.8 percent from a year earlier, he said. Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports remain a big worry, and “we don’t want to see these economic gains derailed by protectionist trade policy,” said Shay. “With retailers ramping up imports and stocking their warehouses before most of the proposed tariffs will take effect, an immediate impact on prices on consumer goods is unlikely, but that won’t last for long.” NRF fears “mere talk of tariffs negatively impacts consumer and business confidence, leading to a decline in spending,” he said. “Replace tariffs and talk of trade wars with diplomacy and policies that strengthen recent gains.” Tariffs of 25 percent on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods took effect July 6, and are scheduled to take effect Aug. 23 on another $16 billion, said NRF. Those first and second tranches affected "a relatively low number of consumer products," but the third on $200 billion "would include a broader array of consumer items," and is "expected to be finalized in September," it said.
Target did “extensive research” to understand the neighborhood and store assortment before opening its newest small-format store in Manhattan Saturday, a company spokeswoman emailed us after our visit Tuesday (see 1807240030). We found tech items shown in their boxes, but mostly not available for demo and all requiring a salesperson to unlock security mechanisms to remove an item for purchase. Cameras, headphones and Bluetooth speakers were among the products stored behind locked glass doors near the floor. Only a half dozen JBL and Ultimate Ears Bluetooth speakers were available for comparison demos, and of the smattering of Apple mobile devices on end caps, only an iPad was in working order as employees were still sorting products and filling shelves. TVs were stacked in their boxes on shelves behind a cart of coolers, not along the wall for demo. The store “is designed to give guests more options for purchase, rather than use the space for display-only examples,” the spokeswoman said, in response to whether TVs will be powered on. The 26,000-square-foot East Village store is typical of other small-format stores where the merchandise selection is designed to “fill a need in the community and offer guests choices we think they’ll love,” she said. In small-format stores, the retailer tries to make shopping “easy and inspiring,” considering store size and how customers are shopping. That includes whether they plan to carry home their order or have it delivered, and Target’s same-day delivery service, Shopped by Shipt, is available to store customers for electronics, groceries, essentials, home and other products, she said. Target was the subject of a Twitterstorm of criticism last weekend from residents who objected to the chain store’s grand opening props -- including a mock entrance to a club designed to look like punk rock club CBGB and a vinyl wrap showing tenement buildings -- saying the chain store didn't fit with the punk and Bohemian history of the neighborhood. “When Target opens a new store, we often host a one-day celebration," the spokeswoman said. "Our goal is to connect with our newest guests and, in this case, celebrate the heritage of the East Village. We sincerely apologize if some event-goers felt it was not the best way to capture the spirit of the neighborhood. We always appreciate guest feedback and will take it into consideration as we plan for future opening events.”
Walmart entered a strategic partnership with Microsoft for cloud solutions to speed its digital transformation, the retailer said Tuesday. The partnership will leverage machine learning, artificial intelligence and data platform solutions, said Walmart CEO Doug McMillon. Walmart already is using Microsoft services for critical applications and workloads and will add cloud solutions for external customer-facing services and internal business applications, it said. The scalable and secure technology will extend across Walmart’s brands and global businesses, allow it to manage workloads in an “elastic” environment, provide access to new toolsets for faster innovation and help manage costs through a cloud-based environment, Walmart said. It will move a significant portion of walmart.com and samsclub.com to Microsoft’s Azure platform, including cloud-powered check-out, enabling Walmart “to grow with rising customer demand,” it said.
Barnes & Noble will hold a Vinyl Weekend Friday-Sunday at its stores nationwide, pushing “a huge selection” of exclusive vinyl titles, with a focus on Broadway music “while supplies last,” it said Monday. Ex-CEO Demos Parneros, who was ousted last week (see 1807050002), said on last month's earnings call (see 1806220020) that Barnes & Noble was curtailing sales of music and DVDs in an era of falling demand for physical media, although vinyl sales, while relatively small, are growing (see 1807090029). “There are extremely limited quantities of each exclusive vinyl available, so customers are encouraged to visit their local store as soon as possible,” said the Monday announcement. Barnesandnoble.com was taking preorders Monday for several vinyl LPs, including Rod Stewart’s Greatest Hits 1, Madonna’s Immaculate Conception, Backroads and Abandoned Motels by the Jayhawks and Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. Its e-commerce site showed four brands of turntables, most not available in stores. Prices ranged from sub-$100 Crosley models to a $529 Audio-Technica turntable. A U-Turn-branded Pluto phono preamp was selling online for $99. During the weekend event, B&N will knock 10 percent off all vinyl titles, 30 percent off select vinyl titles and 50 percent off a Crosley turntable and speaker set, it said, and it's giving away coffee with any vinyl or turntable purchase. In targeted events, B&N will give away a vinyl gift set with limited-edition albums by Bruce Springsteen at its Freehold, New Jersey, location; an autographed Billy Joel The Stranger album at its Carle Place, New York, store; and test pressings, including a 78-rpm 10-inch title from Ray LaMontagne at stores in Brentwood and Collierville, Tennessee. The company, which trumpeted in the news release the “return of Vinyl Weekend,” didn’t say whether it was the last and didn’t respond to questions.