“Sales at U.S. retailers declined in December to wrap the weakest year since 2009, raising concern about the momentum in consumer spending heading into 2016,” Sho Chandra reports for Bloomberg. “For all of 2015, purchases climbed 2.1 percent, the smallest advance of the current economic expansion. The slowdown, including electronics stores, clothing merchants and grocers, indicates Americans probably preferred to sock away the savings from cheaper fuel instead of splurging during the holiday season.”
“‘There isn’t anything encouraging in this report,’ said Thomas Simons, a money-market economist at Jefferies Group LLC in New York,” Chandra reports. “The retail report also showed sales decreased 0.9 percent at clothing chains and 0.2 percent at electronics stores.”
“Recent reports had signaled the November-December holiday season was a mixed one for retailers,” Chandra reports. “Same-store sales fell in the two months for chains ranging from Macy’s Inc. to Best Buy Co. while those who snagged an increase included J.C. Penney Co. Same-store sales for the industry as a whole account for about 17 percent of total retail sales, which make up almost half of consumer spending.”
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“Wal-Mart is closing 269 stores, more than half of them in the U.S. and another big chunk in its challenging Brazilian market,” Anne D’Innocenzio reports for The Associated Press. “The stores being shuttered account for a fraction of the company’s 11,000 stores worldwide and less than 1 percent of its global revenue. More than 95 percent of the stores set to be closed in the U.S. are within 10 miles of another Wal-Mart. The Bentonville, Arkansas, company said it is working to ensure that workers are placed in nearby locations. The store closures will start at the end of the month.”
“Wal-Mart operates 4,500 in the U.S. Its global workforce is 2.2 million, 1.4 million in the U.S. alone,” D’Innocenzio reports. “Wal-Mart has warned that its earnings for the fiscal year starting next month will be down as much as 12 percent as it invests further in online operations and pours money into improving customers’ experience.”
“Of the closures announced Friday, 154 locations will be in the U.S., including the company’s 102 smallest-format stores called Wal-Mart Express, which were opened as a test in 2011,” D’Innocenzio reports. “Also covered in the closures are 23 Neighborhood Markets, 12 supercenters, seven stores in Puerto Rico, six discount stores and four Sam’s Clubs. Wal-Mart will now focus in the U.S. on supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, the e-commerce business and pickup services for shoppers.”
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