Tag Archives: essentials

Target struggling in comparison to its competitors

customer-shopping-target-store

Important Takeaways:

  • The company is feeling the pinch as high prices on essentials keep consumers’ wallets tight. The Minneapolis-based retailer reported another tough quarter, with revenue and profits falling short of expectations.
  • Target’s comparable sales, which include stores and digital channels open for at least a year, dropped 3.7 percent in the three months ending May 4, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of decline. Revenue fell 3.1 percent to $24.53 billion, just above Wall Street’s forecast of $24.52 billion. Net income was $942 million, or $2.03 per share, slightly missing analysts’ projections by three cents, according to the Wall Street Journal.
  • Shares plummeted nearly 9 percent in premarket trading and were trading down around 6.7 percent midday, reflecting investor unease over the continuing sales slump.
  • Target appears to be weathering the inflation storm worse than its competitors. Indeed, consumer spending has been rising even while Target’s sales fall, suggesting the company is losing market share. Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, saw a 3.8 percent rise in comparable store sales. Amazon and Costco are also doing well.
  • Target has been sharply criticized in recent years for embracing a woke agenda and leftwing views of sex, including prominently displaying children’s apparel promoting transgender ideology as part of its celebration of so-called “Pride month.” The company recently decided to limit its “Pride themed” merchandise this year, restricting apparel to adult sections and selling them in only around half of its stores, after sales took a hit because of customer backlash against the promotion of transgender ideology.

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U.S. agency says will keep providing water, other essentials in Puerto Rico

A car is partially buried under the remains of a building, after Hurricane Maria hit the island in September, in Humacao, Puerto Rico January 25, 2018.

By Nick Brown

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency said on Wednesday it would continue providing water, meals and other essentials to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico despite earlier reports its humanitarian mission in the U.S. territory would end on Wednesday.

“There was never, and is not now, a decision to stop distributing commodities on the island,” FEMA said in a written statement on Wednesday evening.

Puerto Rico is struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria, which hit on Sept. 20. The storm killed dozens and left the entire island without power at a time when it was already trudging through the largest government bankruptcy in U.S. history, with some $120 billion in combined bond and pension debt.

Some Puerto Rican and U.S. politicians had criticized FEMA this week after NPR reported on Monday that FEMA’s mission in Puerto Rico was coming to an end, citing a spokesman for the agency.

On Tuesday, FEMA reversed course, saying the initial Jan. 31 end date had been relayed in error.

Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, speaking on the Senate Floor on Monday, had said it would be “unconscionable” and “a travesty” to cut off aid in Puerto Rico, where nearly a third of the island’s 3.4 million U.S. citizens still lack power more than four months after the storm.

Eventually, FEMA will hand over responsibility for humanitarian aid to Puerto Rico’s government.

Amid the confusion over the timing of that transition, Puerto Rico’s public safety director, Hector Pesquera, said on Tuesday his administration was still negotiating with FEMA on the timing of the handover.

“We have yet to finish the discussions about when the transition should start,” Pesquera said. “It is important to note that this transition period should last at least two weeks.”

(Reporting by Nick Brown; Editing by James Dalgleish)