November 29, 2023
In the RITE AID CORPORATION, DIP case, the Court issued a second interim order authorizing the Debtors to pay certain prepetition claims of 503(b)(9) Claimants, Lien Claimants, and Critical Vendors. A hearing to consider a final order was set for December 7, 2023.
Orders were also issued approving (i) the rejection of 380 leases, (ii)procedures to reject or assume contracts and unexpired leases and (iii) store closing sales for 154 units.
HBCx closed three real estate transactions, which resulted in net cash proceeds of $173 million. This includes the previously disclosed plans to sell two Lord & Taylor stores for net proceeds to HBCx of $63 million, as well as the sale of a Canadian lease form a closed store and a real-estate related litigation settlement. All proceeds were used to pay down ABL borrowings. At its second quarter ended July 29, 2023, there were $681 million in borrowings and $224 million in net availability under the $1.30 billion ABL facility.
DOLLAR GENERAL strikes a deal with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) after allegations that hundreds of items were priced significantly higher at the register than what was shown on store shelves. The DATCP visited over 200 stores across Wisconsin between January 30 and February 10, checking the prices on over 7,000 products. Investigators found the prices of 9% of the items scanned (662) were more expensive when purchased. The agency reported the mispriced items cost 17% more on average that what was listed. Dollar General will pay just over $850,000 for the alleged price accuracy violations along with 53 other allegations that it broke the state's refund policy disclosure laws. The Company agreed to the settlement but did not acknowledge any wrongdoing.
On November 20, ASSOCIATED FOOD STORES opened the first Macey's Market in the Pinebrook neighborhood of Park City, UT. Macey's Market stores are designed for smaller and more centralized areas to better cater to individual neighborhoods. The location was previously a Fresh Market store before it was remodeled. Salt Lake City-based Associated Food Stores is a grocery coop supplying more than 450 independently owned retail supermarkets throughout the western U.S.
A collective action lawsuit accusing PUBLIX of not paying managers for time worked now has 58 plaintiffs. The lawsuit was originally filed in Tampa on October 26 with three plaintiffs, alleging the Company engaged in a form of wage theft in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Plaintiffs estimate that they each worked on average three to five unpaid overtime hours per workweek or more. The lawsuit says the failure to pay for all hours worked was due to a corporate policy to limit labor expenditures to preserve corporate profits. The Company responded saying it pays its associates according to the law and takes these claims very seriously.
JACK IN THE BOX announced that it signed 123 new restaurant commitments during FY23, as well as 138 new commitments for Del Taco. The Company continues its momentum in 2024 by announcing market entry into four new states: Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and Wyoming. The brand also signed a 22-unit commitment to enter Mexico. For Del Taco, new market entries include Texas, Montana, and Wyoming, along with 52 additional commitments in Florida.
Jack in the Box reported 4Q23 comps increased 3.9%, driven by pricing, which was partially offset by decreases in transactions and menu mix. Jack in the Box opened 20 new restaurants. Del Taco comps fell 1.5%, driven by decreases in transactions and menu mix, partially offset by increases in pricing. Del Taco had seven restaurant openings and nine closings.
PSK Supermarkets, a member of retailer-owned grocery coop Allegiance Retail Services LLC, has reopened FOODTOWN in the Bainbridge neighborhood of the Bronx, NY. This location was the original store opened in 1956 and has undergone significant growth over the years, expanding from its original 4,000 square feet to its current size of 14,000 square feet. PSK now operates 13 stores in the New York metro region. Earlier this month Foodtown opened a new store in Astoria, Queens, NY.
INSERRA SUPERMARKETS opened a new 60,000 square-foot store in Elmwood Park, NJ on November 17. The store features specialty departments, including a fresh bakery, a hot bar and fresh prepared meals, meat department, and full-service seafood, deli, and floral departments. Inserra operates 23 ShopRite stores and two Price Rite Marketplace stores in New York and New Jersey.
IT'SUGAR, a specialty candy retailer, opened 1,200 square-foot store-within-a-store concepts in MACY'S flagships in Chicago and Miami. It'Sugar began its partnership with Macy's in Fall 2021 opening within its Herald Square location in New York. It also opened a 20,000 square-foot location in Times Square, NY in August 2022. It'Sugar also has an 11,400 square-foot location in Chicago opened in April 2022. The retailer is currently planning "additional locations in the future, as we look forward to expanding our partnership with Macy's." Next year, It'Sugar plans to open several large format stores, including an 18,000 square-foot store in Miami and an 8,500 square-foot concept in Nashville.
WILSON SPORTING GOODS opened a new, 2,600 square-foot store at the Mall of America, offering products including the official basketballs of the NBC and WNBA, tennis rackets and accessories, and other Wilson products and sportswear apparel for men and women. The Mall of America store is Wilson's first entry into Minnesota and eighth location overall. Earlier this year Wilson opened its first store on the West Coast in Santa Monica, CA. Wilson's other retail locations include three stores in New York City, one in Chicago, one in Houston, and one in Central Valley, NY.
SALT LIFE, an ocean-inspired lifestyle apparel and accessories brand owned by Delta Apparel, will open its first location in Virginia, in Williamsburg, in December. Salt Life will finish the year with a total of 28 locations, including 15 full-price stores and 13 outlet stores. Including the upcoming opening, Salt Life has opened seven stores this year, including three in Florida, two in New York, and one in New Jersey.
THE HOME DEPOT inked a deal to acquire International Designs Group (IDG), a platform company that owns and operates Construction Resources and other design-oriented subsidiaries. Construction Resources is a distributor of design-oriented surfaces, appliances, and architectural specialty products for professional contractors focused on renovation, remodeling, residential home building and multi-family. Home Depot acquires IDG from Mill Point Capital LLC, a private equity firm focused on control-oriented investments in the business services, industrials, and IT services sectors. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of 2023.
RH opened a 62,000 square-foot gallery at the 151-acre DeHaan Estate, the former home of the philanthropist Christel DeHaan, in Indianapolis, IN. The store represents one of its largest to date. In addition to the interior design studio, the location features a restaurant called "The Dining Room," which includes a wine bar and terrace.
On November 8, DISCOUNT DRUG MART opened its first store in Parma, OH on the former State Road Elementary School site. The 28,000 square-foot space includes a drive-thru pharmacy and stocks more than 60,000 items. RetaliStat analysts recently issued an RxTra report on this company.
General Interest
Black Friday... Mastercard Spending Pulse, which measures in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment, said U.S. retail sales on Black Friday rose 2.5% YOY. E-commerce sales increased 8.5%, and in-store sales increased 1.1%. Jewelry and apparel ranked as the top gift sectors of the day. Department store sales as well as furniture and furnishings continued to lag other sectors compared to 2022.
According to initial data from Sensormatic Solutions, in-store traffic on Black Friday was up 4.6% compared to last year. In addition to being the strongest Black Friday increase in recent years, the results were a positive deviation from overall YOY performance as traffic has been down 2.4% on average throughout 2023 to date.
According to Adobe Analytics data, consumers spent $63.20 billion online during the first 20 days of November, up 5% YOY and outpacing Adobe's forecast of 4.8% growth. Adobe data indicates that 17 of the first 20 days of November saw consumers spend over $3 billion online in a single day, a new record; in 2022, 13 days had more than $3 billion in online spending. Cyber Monday is forecasted to remain the season's and year's biggest online shopping day at a record breaking $12 billion, up 6.1% YOY.
Quarterly Earnings
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