R e t a i l
The financial media e.g. CNBC, WSJ, FT has been rhetorical in promoting the 'strong consumer' during 2019, almost to the point of denial of the economic slowdown. Now facts are being reported from leading 'WATCH' retailers that confirm sales growth has stalled, hit by tariffs and economic uncertainty. We preview and analyse Q4'19 results. Updated
HP's hopeless
The absurd $33Bn bid by Xerox driven by Chainsaw Carl Icahn for the 6X larger HP Inc. should not be happening, HP's board is behaving like an underdog talking about an unconvincing "undervaluation" rather than dismissing the dinosaur copier giant, or more positively counterbidding and taking over Xerox's better equipped direct salesforce
Target's tumbling
Leading US retailer Target reported decelerating sales growth trends in recent quarters compared with 2018. Q4'19 sales, including the Christmas-Thanksgiving holiday, sales fell in organic terms for the first time in recent years
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Purell's pure
Effective 1 Jan GOJO Industries, the Purell hygiene brand maker, named Carey Jaros as CEO. We interview Carey about her plans to accelerate the growth of the 'Purell Solution', to holistically fight the spread of illness causing germs. Tomorrow
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2020 Predictions:
What will happen with Amazon, Apple, Staples, Essendant, SPR, Depot, WBMason, HP/Xerox, Uber, Imperial Dade, SPOT (Spicers-OfficeTeam), EVO/VOW, Westcoast, dealers, groups, wholesalers, manufacturers in 2020. Here are our predictions.... Complete
Contract furniture
Furnituremakers Review Q4'19: The transactional/replenishment market continued to slowdown. Meanwhile, contract interiors demand has turned down with CEO's reporting slower order book. We review leaders' performance & latest trends.... Updated Steelcase/HMiller results today
Herman Miller
Herman Miller, the leading upscale furniture maker, reported a negative momentum swing in Q2'20. Like rival Steelcase it saw a slowdown in demand for project furniture
Steelcase slides
Steelcase, the $3.7Bn in sales, global leader in collaborative furnishings, reported slower demand trends in the US/Europe in Q3'20 with a declining order book in the US for Q4
Cintas maintains
Cintas, the uniform & business services specialist, posted impressive Q2'20 results and progressed along its strategic direction shift at higher profitability....
FedEx: fatefully
FedEx CEO Fred 'Smug' Smith just reported bare bones Q2'20 results. As expected it suffered serious declines in sales & profits, inspite of big price increases. Smug continued his arrogance towards the media and is losing out to Amazon, USPS & UPS with an outdated, inferior service model
Small Business
Are US small businesses are feeling more confident than ever? The latest MetLife & U.S. Chamber of Commerce survey recorded an all-time high with 71.3. This contrasts with latest CEO reports from consumer brand makers/retailers and economic trends. We compare and analyse the reports
Bunzl blames
Bunzl, the international business supplies distributor continued its stalled performance. Growth has reversed to its slowest rate in the past 5 years, well below buoyant hygiene, foodservice and packaging market rates. Meanwhile it announced an Australian acquisition...
TechData signs
Global #2 IT wholesaler Tech Data today announced an agreement to acquire a leading value-added distributer based in Bangalore, India with expertise in cybersecurity and networking. The deal is expected to close during Q1'20
Hollowing out to
More people are working from home, having a big affect on business real estate needs, The New York Times reports. About 24% of all employees and 42% of managers homeworked part-time according to US Bureau of Labor Stats. We discuss this megatrend and the consequential hollowing out of corporate workspace
AMZN fires FedEx
When Amazon fired FedEx earlier this year for inefficiency and inflexibility, the rift between complacent CEO Fred 'Smug' Smith and the progressive demands of Jeff Bezos widened. No surprise then that Amazon has banned its 3rd Party sellers from using the service
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