Brands are scrambling to shift production as they try to dodge COVID spikes in Southeast Asia, the pandemic crisis in India and issues with Xinjiang cotton in China.
RETAIL EXPANSION
Google will open its first permanent brick-and-mortar store this summer in New York City.
- The store comes as Google places more emphasis on its hardware products and needs a place where customers can experience them.
- On-site tech support and repairs will also be provided (a nod to the consumer loyalty success of Apple’s Genius Bar).
Global luxury brands are switching to short-term leases and pop-up outlets in Hong Kong, taking advantage of cheaper rental charges amid soaring vacancy rates in what was once the world’s most expensive high street commercial property market.
Cotton On (Australia) will launch in the UK online only. The retailer is currently in 20 countries.
FINANCE
Target (USA) reported Q1 sales reached $24.2 billion, up 23.4% year-on-year. (Target financials)
- Operating income was $2.4 billion, up 407%from $0.5 billion in 2020.
- More than 95 percent of Target’s first quarter sales were fulfilled by its stores.
- Plans to open 30 new stores this year.
Walmart (USA) reported net income of $2.73 billion for the quarter ended April 30, down 31.6% year-on-year, dragged down by an 8.3% drop in international sales and recent divestitures. (Walmart financials)
- Revenue rose to $138.31 billion, up 2.7% year-on-year.
- Operating income was $6.9 billion in Q1, up 31.3% year-on-year.
Macy’s (USA) reported a profit of $103 million, for the quarter ended May 1, compared with a loss of $3.6 billion a year ago. (Macy’s financials)
- Net sales reached $4.71 billion, up 55.9% year-on-year.
- Digital sales rose 34% year-on-year
- Net sales outlook for fiscal 2021 has been revised to range from $21.73 billion to $22.23 billion, up from its previous estimate of $19.75 billion to $20.75 billion.
Kohl’s (USA) reported net income of $14.0 million, for the quarter ended May 1, compared to a loss of $541.0 million last year.
- Revenue rose to $3.89 billion, up 69.5% year-on-year.
TJX Companies (USA) reported net income of $533.9 million for the quarter ended May 1, after a loss of $887.5 million last year.
- Sales more than doubled to $10.09 billion from a year ago when stores were closed for 50 percent of the quarter.
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TRADE ISSUES
India will, for the first time, join its Quad partners, Australia, Japan and the U.S.,in a French-led naval drill in the Bay of Bengal next week, as the nations seek to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific.
- France and the UK could end up joining the Quad.
- There is talk of Quad emerging as Asia’s NATO.
Japan will consider cutting off all official development assistance to Myanmar, even for ongoing projects, if the situation there does not improve, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told Nikkei Asia.
MANUFACTURING
Boohoo (UK) has bowed to pressure from shareholders and linked a £150m bonus scheme for its top managers to improvements in conditions at the factories it uses.
MARKETS
USA: Clothing and clothing accessory stores were down 5.1% month-on-month (seasonally adjusted) but up 711.3% (unadjusted) year-on-year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Analysts expect continued strong sales growth as the country returns to ‘normal times’.
China: Retail sales of consumer goods went up 29.6 percent year on year in the first four months of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
UK: Online sales dropped 7 percent since retail reopened.
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