February 16, 2022
CVS Health reported stronger-than-expected 4Q21 results, with the top line growing 10.1%, again thanks to COVID vaccinations and testing. The Company said it has administered more than 59 million COVID-19 vaccines and 32 million tests. Retail sales grew 12.7%, with that growth 60% driven by COVID-related impacts from vaccines, testing and prescriptions. The Company maintained its FY22 adjusted EPS guidance of $8.10 to $8.30, representing 2% to 5% growth, as management expects the COVID impact to wane in the second half; guidance doesn’t assume the benefit of a fourth booster shot. CVS expects vaccine volume to fall 70% to 80%, and in-store testing to fall 40% to 50%, with OTC test kits to see modest growth in 2022. As we have been reporting, in the face of growing online rivals, CVS is attempting to reinvent itself as a primary care provider.
The Company announced plans to close 900, or nearly 10%, of its stores, while transitioning its remaining locations into either primary care clinics, HealthHUB locations or traditional CVS stores. When asked about the mix of these formats, management wouldn’t specify, instead saying its focus is on providing adequate coverage; the current HealthHUB and MinuteClinics cover 45% of the U.S. Management also said it is considering M&A to enhance its offerings, including expanding its home health and technology capabilities. Click here to request a sample list of openings and closings.
On February 22, Hy-Vee will open a new store in Springfield, MO, its first reimagined store format in the state and third overall. The 93,000 square-foot store will feature several new departments, and will have an accompanying Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh convenience store in the parking lot, offering fresh on-the-go meal offerings; and a Market Grille Express. The other reimagined Hy-Vee stores, in Grimes, IA, and Eau Claire, WI, offer large, open food hall areas for fast-casual dining; digital shelf tags and more than 100 TVs for digital marketing; digital kiosks for ordering cakes and fresh prepared foods; Scan and Go, and self-checkout options; DSW shoes and accessories; Joe Fresh clothing; The W Nail Bar; Pair Eyewear kiosk; Johnson Fitness & Wellness showroom; a beauty department; and an expanded Candy Shoppe department. Hy-Vee also recently revealed plans to expand into four new states and build a distribution center in Nashville, TN, opening more than 20 new stores in the next four years. Click here to request a sample list of future openings.
In this second white paper on the supply chain, we discuss the current state of the supply chain, how retail has responded, and the longer-term impact and outlook. Click here to request this report.
Urban Outfitters’ 4Q22 net sales reached a record $1.33 billion, up 14% over pre-pandemic 4Q20. Comps were up 14%, driven by double-digit growth in e-commerce, partially offset by low double-digit negative store sales on reduced store traffic. By segment, Retail net sales increased 15%, while Wholesale segment net sales fell 22% on lower promotional sales. During FY22, the Company opened 56 new locations and closed 18 stores, for a total of 38 net new stores (24 Free People, 14 Urban Outfitters, and 1 Anthropologie store). Click here to request a list of future openings.
Walmart is set to open its first Chicago, IL academy, its largest in the U.S. The 15,000 square-foot academy is among 202 Walmart academies nationwide, including six in Illinois. The Company’s academies are dedicated locations, in or near Supercenters, where front-line hourly supervisors, department managers and assistant managers receive training.
Amazon’s food retail business in Britain is facing increased regulation after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said rules dictating how grocers should treat suppliers will now apply to Amazon. The code applies to retailers with an annual turnover of more than £1 billion ($1.40 billion) in grocery sales. Amazon’s U.K. expansion in 2021 included its first 17 physical stores in the U.K., 15 Amazon Fresh food stores and two Amazon 4-star retail stores.
In this special analysis, our analyst team takes a look at industry trends to watch out for in 2022 along with predicted winners, losers, and question markets for each segment. Click here to request this report.
Tractor Supply Company plans to add more facilities over the next several years that provide its stores with just-in-time replenishment of some of its fastest-turning items. Currently, the Company operates a dozen of these facilities, called mixing centers, throughout the U.S. The mixing centers focus on delivering the 100 highest-velocity consumable, usable and edible (C.U.E.) products in full-pallet quantities. They allow stores to free up 400 square feet of space for safety stock.
In other news, Tractor Supply plans to open a 22,000 square-foot store in Akron, OH, joining two existing locations in the area. The Company currently operates 2,000 stores nationwide. Click here to request a list of future openings.
On March 2, Southeastern Grocers (SEG) will open a new Palm Beach County Winn-Dixie location in Westlake, as part of its continued growth throughout Florida. SEG has renewed more than 70% of all stores throughout its Southeast footprint. Last year, the Company opened two new stores in the state, in St. Augustine Shores and Viera. Additionally, SEG opened eight new Winn-Dixie stores in 2020 in Boynton Beach, Fort Myers, Gainesville, Lakewood Ranch, Lake Mary, West Melbourne, and two locations in Jacksonville. Last fall, the grocer debuted its new standalone WDs Wine, Beer and Liquor in Jacksonville, FL.
Chipotle’s 4Q revenue increased 22% to $1.96 billion, driven by 15.2% comp growth and 78 new restaurant openings. Digital sales grew 3.8% and accounted for 41.6% of sales. About half of digital sales were from order-ahead transactions, as well as the added convenience of more Chipotlanes. Operating margin was 8.1%, an increase from 7.3%. For the full year, revenue rose 26.1% to $7.55 billion, and comps increased 19.3%. Digital sales rose 24.7% and accounted for 45.6% of sales.
Chipotle said that it has the potential to have at least 7,000 Chipotle restaurants in North America. The new estimate is up from its prior goal of 6,000 restaurants. Chipotle said that given its healthy and improving cash on cash returns, the Company is building a real estate pipeline that will allow it to accelerate unit growth to the range of 8% – 10% per year, with greater than 80% of new restaurants having a ‘Chipotlane,’ which are kitchens dedicated to digital orders placed through the Chipotle app and Chipotle.com. Click here to request a sample list of future openings.
Save A Lot announced the December completion of its re-licensing program and its transition to a pure play wholesale model. The go-forward plan hinged on converting the approximately one-third of its store base (>400) that was corporate owned to licensees. The recent announcement coincides with the Company’s recent appointment of new CEO Leon Bergmann, who joins on February 21.
The Container Store Group’s 3Q21 sales fell 3% to $267.3 million; however, when compared to 3Q19, sales were up 16.9%. Year-over-year, general merchandise categories contributed to the sales decline, while Custom Closets remained flat. Online sales fell 36% when compared to the COVID-driven surge in sales in 3Q20, and Elfa third-party sales slipped 1.3% due to unfavorable foreign currency translation. Gross margin eroded 90 bps primarily due to increased freight and commodity costs, partially offset by decreased shipping costs and less promotional activity. The Company opened one new store during the year and ended with 94 locations. Looking ahead, 4Q21 sales are expected to decline 11%, or 6% when excluding the impact of the extra week last year.
Hobby Lobby will open its first New York City location next year in Staten Island. The Company already has a presence in the New York metro area with locations in New Jersey and Long Island, but this is the first location within the five boroughs. Hobby Lobby says it is actively seeking locations in all five boroughs and expects to announce more future openings in New York City. The Company operates 955 stores across the country, including 21 in New York State. Click here to request a sample list of future openings.
O’Reilly Automotive’s 4Q21 sales increased 16%, aided by 168 net new stores opened during the year; comps were up 14.5% (up 25.7% on a two-year stack). Margins improved, and operating income was up 27% to $676 million. In FY22, the Company expects total revenue of $14.20 billion to $14.50 billion, with comps up 5% to 7%. Management noted that it monitors the competitive landscape in the industry and has been pleased with its ability to grow both the DIY and professional business at record levels over the last two years; however, it plans to accelerate its professional business investment through targeted competitive adjustments to its pricing strategy. The Company’s new store openings target for FY22 is 175 – 185. Click here to request a sample list of future openings.
AMC Theatres announced it reached a lease agreement with Chicago-based GW Properties to acquire and open AMC Evanston 12, a theater located in Chicago, IL, which is expected to open later this year. AMC remains in active discussions with other property owners regarding additional currently closed locations.
Our Hot Market Report takes a closer look at the Miami, FL real estate landscape, and provides visual competitive analyses as well as key real estate metrics such as future openings, store count, market share, digital insights, and demographics. Click here to request a copy of the full report.
On February 18, Lowes Foods will open a new concept store in Huntersville, NC, in the Charlotte metro market. The 25,000 square-foot unit, a former Earth Fare supermarket, has a smaller footprint than a traditional Lowes, which averages about 50,000 square feet. The store will offer prepared food and beverage “shops” under a food-hall-style design as well as space for customer and community events. Click here to request a list of future openings.
Little Caesars intends to continue its domestic growth by adding more multi-unit and single-unit franchisees in the coming year. The brand is pursuing franchise candidates in the New England; New York City; Minneapolis, MN; Denver, CO; and Pacific Northwest markets. Internationally, Little Caesars is currently seeking multi-unit developers in Brazil, France, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Click here to request a sample list of future openings.
Yum! Brands’ 4Q revenues increased 8.4% to $1.89 billion. The Company reported same-store sales growth of 5% compared to the year-ago period and 4% on a two-year stack basis. Taco Bell reported the highest jump in comp growth, up 8% after several weaker quarters, hurt by a lack of late-night and morning customers. Nearly 20% of Taco Bell transactions in the U.S. were digital orders. KFC’s same-store sales rose 5%, including a 4% increase in the U.S. Shrinking system-wide sales in China, its largest market, weighed on KFC’s overall comp growth. Pizza Hut reported comp growth of 3%, including up 1% in the U.S. Executives said the COVID Omicron variant put pressure on pizza delivery due to a shortage of drivers. Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut all saw Company restaurant margins shrink during the quarter. Across the restaurant industry, operators have been dealing with higher food, freight and labor costs. The Company reported more than $6 billion in digital sales during the quarter and $22 billion for the full year.
During the quarter, Yum! added 1,678 gross units. The KFC division opened 904 gross new restaurants, while Taco Bell and Pizza Hut opened 195 and 571 new restaurants, respectively,
Life Time Group Holdings entered into a non-binding letter of intent for the sale-leaseback of four properties, valued at $175 million, with an institutional real estate investor. Two of the properties will be sold and leased back by March 31, resulting in about $80 million in gross proceeds for the Company. The sale leaseback of the other two properties, valued at $95 million, will be completed by September 30, 2022. Proceeds will be used to strengthen the balance sheet and support new growth opportunities. As of September 30, 2021, Life Time operated 155 centers in 29 states and one Canadian province. As of the same date, the Company had 12 new centers under construction, with plans for 10 or more annual openings through the foreseeable future. All openings will be in affluent suburban and urban areas. About 58% of Life Time’s centers are leased. The Company plans to lease a majority of new centers, as opposed to a predominantly owned real estate strategy pre-2015. Click here to request a list of future openings.
Dunham’s Sports plans to move its existing store in the Carnation City Mall in Alliance, OH into a former 34,000 square-foot J.C. Penney within the same mall. The existing Dunham’s store will be demolished to make space for a 160,000 square-foot Meijer. Lead developer Fairmount Properties is seeking city approval to move forward with the plans.
Earlier this month, Dunham’s opened a new store in a former Herberger’s location in Bemidji, MN. This is the 10th Dunham’s Sports in the state of Minnesota and 247th overall.
Inspire Brands, parent of Dunkin’, announced that the brand purchased 31 restaurants in Ohio previously operated by Dunkin’s franchise network, SMB Donuts. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Click here to request a sample list of future openings.
Greer’s Markets recently opened a new concept store in downtown Mobile, AL. The urban format emphasizes ready-to-eat food and has a kitchen serving a variety of food. Traditional grocery items are in the center of the store, with the bakery, coffee shop, kitchen, and beer and wine located on the perimeter. Greer’s Markets operates 29 stores in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.
The below retailers recently released their earnings reports. To request more information on these companies, or to discuss the financial performance with a retail industry expert, please click here.
