Is retail making a comeback? It may be too early to say, but analysts at Citi at the very least expect concerns to subside in a meaningful way in 2018. The Analyst
Citi s Kate McShane and Geoffrey Small. The Thesis
The tremendous growth of e-commerce and the rise of Amazon.com,. Read More.
Albertsons Companies Inc. (NYSE: ACI), received downgraded ratings from Goldman Sachs.
A Shifting Landscape: Analyst Kate McShane noted that the grocery retail industry stood out within the past year’s economy “with outsized sales growth as a result of pandemic-related demand.”
But McShane observed that upcoming months might not be as favorable to this industry.
“As economies reopen and customer demand likely shifts incrementally towards food away from home, we think the promotional environment could become more competitive in grocery throughout the coming year,” she wrote. “That, coupled with potentially rising costs from inflation, results in multiple headwinds that could pressure margins for grocers.”
Goldman Sach’s (NYSE: GS) sector overview of the retail sector highlights the impact on apparel sales in the U.S. owing to unseasonably warm weather. The Northeast region especially lagged in winter apparel sales.
J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) and Kohl’s (NYSE: KSS) saw a slump in the children’s apparel. Read More.
The smell of chlorine could be more elusive than usual this summer.
That s because the swimming pool industry is grappling with a chlorine shortage that has caused prices of the chemical to soar, forcing pool owners to consider alternatives. Pool chlorine is not easy to get, and there s a chlorine shortage nationally that we re all going to have to deal with, John Swygert, CEO of Ollie s Bargain Outlet Holdings, told investors on a recent conference call.
While chlorine demand jumped in 2020 as Americans spent more time at home with their pools due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year s shortage stems largely from an incident at a plant in Westlake, Louisiana, in August.