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    Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares resigns amid problems in U.S., falling sales

    Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has resigned from the automaker, which cited “different views” between him and the board of directors.
    The Jeep maker said its process to appoint a new CEO is “well under way” and that it expects to conclude the search during the first half of next year.
    Until then, the company said it will establish a new interim executive committee led by chairman John Elkann.

    Carlos Tavares, chief executive officer of Stellantis NV, speaks to the media at the Stellantis auto manufacturing plant in Sochaux, France, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. 
    Nathan Laine | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    DETROIT — Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has unexpectedly resigned from the automaker amid increasingly “different views” between the executive and the board of directors, the company said Sunday.
    The world’s fourth-largest carmaker said its board accepted Tavares’ resignation on Sunday. His departure is effective immediately.

    Jeep-maker Stellantis said its process to appoint a new CEO is “well under way” and that it expects to conclude the search during the first half of next year. Until then, the company said it will establish a new interim executive committee led by chairman John Elkann.
    “Stellantis’ success since its creation has been rooted in a perfect alignment between the reference shareholders, the Board and the CEO. However, in recent weeks different views have emerged which have resulted in the Board and the CEO coming to today’s decision,” Henri de Castries, Stellantis’ senior independent director, said in a release.
    A Stellantis spokesman declined to disclose any additional information regarding the resignation.
    Tavares’ resignation comes less than two months after the company announced he would retire at the end of his contract in early 2026. At the time, Stellantis said it planned to name a a replacement by the fourth quarter of next year.

    Stock chart icon

    Stellantis’ stock in 2024

    Tavares has led Stellantis since its creation through a 2021 merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Groupe, where he had been board chair since 2014.

    The longtime automotive veteran — a prodigy of former Nissan executive Carlos Ghosn — was widely heralded in recent years for spearheading the merger and making Stellantis one of the world’s most profitable automakers.
    But this year, the company’s financial results have severely underperformed expectations amid mismanagement of the U.S. market — its prime cash generator — with a lack of investment in new or updated products, historically high prices and extreme cost-cutting measures.
    The company, which also owns brands such as Dodge, Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot, lowered its annual guidance targets in September, a month ahead of the automaker reporting a 27% decline in third-quarter net revenues.
    Stellantis’ sales also have struggled this year. Most recently, the company reported a roughly 20% decline in year-over-year global vehicles sold during the third quarter. That included extending a yearslong free fall during in the U.S. despite Tavares’ attempts to correct what he has called “arrogant” mistakes.
    U.S.-traded shares of the company are off roughly 43% in 2024.
    Tavares made cost-cutting a critical mission for Stellantis, including a self-reported 8.4 billion euros ($9 billion) in reductions from the merger.
    The cost-saving measures have included reshaping the company’s supply chain and operations, as well as reducing head counts in the U.S. and increasing work in lower-cost countries such as Brazil and Mexico.
    Several current and former Stellantis executives, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to potential repercussions, previously described the cuts to CNBC as grueling to the point of excessiveness and leading to problems in the U.S.
    Tavares pushed back on the claim that the company’s massive cost-cutting efforts had created problems.
    “When you don’t deliver for any reason … you may want to use a scapegoat. The budget cut is an easy one. It’s wrong,” Tavares said in July.
    Stellantis has reduced headcount by 15.5%, or roughly 47,500 employees, between December 2019 and the end of 2023, according to public filings. Additional job cuts this year involving thousands of plant workers the U.S. and Italy have drawn the ire of unions in both countries.
    The United Auto Workers union has been calling for Tavares’ removal for several months as its members face layoffs and production cuts. Stellantis’ U.S. dealership network also has spoken out against Tavares amid bloated inventories and a lack of financial support from the company to sell vehicles. More

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    ‘Moana 2’ snares $221 million in its five-day domestic opening, fueling the biggest Thanksgiving box office of all time

    Disney’s “Moana 2,” Universal’s “Wicked” and Paramount’s “Gladiator II” pushed the five-day Thanksgiving holiday to its biggest haul in cinematic history.
    “Moana 2” led with $221 million in domestic ticket sales, the top performance of a Thanksgiving weekend film ever.
    “Wicked” continued to soar, adding $117.5 million in estimated ticket sales for the holiday.
    “Gladiator II” tallied an additional $44 million over the same period.

    Auliʻi Cravalho voices Moana in Disney Animation’s “Moana 2.”

    It was all feast and no famine at the Thanksgiving box office this year.
    The tag-team of Disney’s “Moana 2,” Universal’s “Wicked” and Paramount’s “Gladiator II” pushed the five-day Thanksgiving holiday to its biggest haul in cinematic history — an estimated $420 million as of Sunday.

    “A perfect storm of Thanksgiving box office, powered by a trio of films from the musical, epic drama, and family film genres, has arrived at the most advantageous moment to reinvigorate the theatrical marketplace after a post-summer malaise,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
    “Moana 2” led the frame with $221 million for the five-day period, a significant overperformance compared to the $100 million box office analysts had initially expected. It marked the highest Thanksgiving weekend performance of a film ever, beating out 2019’s “Frozen II” which snared $125 million during the period.
    “Wicked” continued to soar with $117.5 million in estimated ticket sales for the holiday, bringing its total domestic haul to $262.42 million. It is now the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation of all time at the domestic box office. Globally, the film stands at $359.2 million after 10 days in theaters.
    “Gladiator II” added $44 million to the Thanksgiving total. It has snared an estimated $111.2 million in domestic ticket sales during its first 10 days in theaters and $320 million globally since opening internationally earlier this month.
    “There is no shortage of words to describe the historic weekend we’ve seen unfold at movie theaters,” said Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory. “When one film exceeds expectations in the way ‘Moana 2’ has, that alone is a big story. When fellow tentpole films like ‘Wicked’ and ‘Gladiator II’ excel at the same time, it’s a powerful reminder of the importance moviegoing continues to hold in our culture.”

    The Thanksgiving holiday haul hasn’t topped $200 million since 2019, according to data from Comscore. And, prior to this weekend, only one Thanksgiving period had surpassed $300 million.
    The previous record was held by 2018′s slate, which was led by “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “Creed II” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.” These titles helped generate $315 million in ticket sales combined.
    This year’s overperformance at the box office during the Thanksgiving period has also helped narrow the gap between 2024 and 2023’s hauls. The 2024 box office was hit hard following dual labor strikes in Hollywood the previous year, which halted production and pushed many of the major blockbuster releases to 2025 and beyond.
    Heading into this holiday period, the 2024 box office was down 11% compared to the previous year’s numbers. Now, it’s just 6.4% behind, according to data from Comscore.
    Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal distributed “Wicked” and owns “Fandango.” More

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    College Football Playoff expansion boosts advertising, viewership at Disney

    Sports Media

    Disney’s TV networks and streaming platform are getting a boost from the expanded College Football Playoff this season — particularly when it comes to advertising.
    That’s expected to continue during the slate of college football games scheduled throughout the Thanksgiving weekend. Ad performance is expected to surge, according to data firm EDO.
    College football across Disney’s networks is on pace for the most-watched season since 2016. The new 12-team College Football Playoff format has led to wider viewership.

    Donovan Edwards #7 of the Michigan Wolverines hurdles a tackle attempt by Michael Taaffe #16 of the Texas Longhorns during the first half of a college football game at Michigan Stadium on September 07, 2024 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 
    Aaron J. Thornton | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

    The expanded College Football Playoff format has changed the game for media companies this season — and for Disney in particular.
    This season marks the first of the 12-team College Football Playoff format, meaning fans of more teams than ever have more skin in the game. As a result, Disney’s TV networks that air college football — including ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 — are on pace for their most-watched season since 2016, according to the company.

    This has translated to more viewership engagement with the commercials aired during the games, according to EDO, an advertising data company. That’s expected to continue through this Thanksgiving weekend, a busy stretch on the college football calendar that’s chock full of rivalries and will shape playoff seeding and the upcoming Bowl games.
    During the 14th and final weekend of the season, longstanding rivals such as Ohio State and Michigan, and Texas and Texas A&M will take the field.
    “We have higher hopes, I think, and higher expectations for this coming weekend because of that change in format,” Kevin Krim, CEO of EDO, said of ad engagement on Disney’s networks. “The significance of these games matters, in our experience, in the data.”
    In 2022, the university presidents who oversee the College Football Playoff voted to expand the postseason system that determines the national champion from four to 12 teams. The change has not only offered Disney more games on its schedule, but also increased the intrigue around the games earlier in the season.
    “College football is a key cog in our portfolio, not only the sports portfolio but also our Disney platform portfolio. From an ad sales standpoint and content standpoint, we’ve had unbelievable success,” said Jim Minnich, senior vice president of Disney advertising revenue and yield management, noting “record breaking viewership across the company’s platforms.”

    ABC in particular is on track to have its best season for college football ratings since 2009. The company said 12 of the 15 most-watched games were on the broadcast network this season.
    Consumers were 11% more likely to engage with ads during college football games this season on Disney networks through week 10 compared with the competitive broadcast and cable prime-time average, according to EDO. That means people were more likely to search for products and offerings they saw on the commercial breaks, making those slots more valuable to advertisers.

    Amari Daniels #5 of the Texas A&M Aggies runs the ball while defended by Marvin Burks Jr. #1 of the Missouri Tigers in the first quarter at Kyle Field on October 05, 2024 in College Station, Texas.
    Tim Warner | Getty Images

    In particular, the ad performance during the Thanksgiving weekend slew of games on Disney’s networks is expected to surge again this year, after an already strong 2023, EDO estimates. The firm reported that the ads during Disney’s games were 93% more effective last year than the programming happening in the same time slot on other networks — which also amounted to a 39% year-over-year increase.
    Some of the brands that see particularly strong consumer engagement during college football games on Disney’s channels are consumer packaged goods brands such as Jimmy Dean and Just for Men; restaurants such as Popeyes; and pharmaceutical products such as AbbVie’s Skyrizi, according to EDO.
    These are notable metrics as the media industry faces significant turmoil. Consumers are fleeing the pay-TV bundle, and changes media companies have made in recent years — particularly a shift in resources to streaming platforms — are more in focus than ever. Companies are leaning more than ever on advertising, too.
    Disney has already seen “significant demand on renewals” for its College Football Playoff partners, with some wanting to renew early for 2027 and beyond, Minnich said.
    “There’s a renewed interest earlier than ever,” Minnich said, adding that it’s driven by both the College Football Playoff and sports more broadly.
    On the advertising front, Disney is sold out of its spots through the conference championship games. It has also sold about 90% to 95% of ads for the College Football Playoff games.
    “We’re actually more well sold in the championship game than we have been in years past,” Minnich said. “We’re ahead of pace than we were last year, and that includes the growth that was projected for CFP.”
    Live sports has remained the last bastion of solid ratings for TV networks. The National Football League is often the leader in viewership and advertising, with college football as a close second. Even as the advertising market has softened in recent years, advertisers have continued to spend on sports.
    “Football is generally the most expensive thing on TV because it generates larger audiences who are more engaged with both the program and the ad breaks than anything else on TV. The NFL is the absolute pinnacle of the mountain of value, but right behind it is college football,” said Krim.
    In response, media rights for sports have ballooned across the board.
    Disney being the home of all Southeastern Conference football games has been a boon to advertising demand, too. The media company is reportedly paying around $300 million annually for SEC rights over the next 10 years.
    ESPN and the College Football Playoff announced in March that they had agreed to a six-year $7.8 billion contract through the 2031-32 season. Shortly after, Warner Bros. Discovery signed a five-year sublicensing deal with ESPN to broadcast first-round and quarterfinal College Football Playoff games.
    College football also plays a big role for Disney’s competitors, including Paramount’s CBS Sports, Fox Corp., and Comcast’s NBC Sports.
    Krim said college football is more effective than average programming across all of the networks that show the games.
    Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC. More

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    Trump voters could fuel holiday spending, while Harris supporters may pull back

    Supporters of President-elect Donald Trump are poised to spend more this Black Friday while Kamala Harris voters might pull their budgets back, experts told CNBC.
    Overall, consumers tend to spend more when they’re feeling better about the economy, which means Trump’s victory could be a boon for holiday spending in many parts of the country and a drag in others.
    In the aftermath of the 2024 election, shipping volumes surged in many red states and fell in most blue states.

    BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN – DECEMBER 18: A hat tops off a Christmas tree at a “Merry Christmas” rally hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump at the Kellogg Arena on December 18, 2019 in Battle Creek, Michigan. The House of Representatives will vote later today to determine if Trump will become the third president in U.S. history to be impeached. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
    Scott Olson | Getty Images News | Getty Images

    Black Friday is poised to take on a new tint of red, white and blue this year after an election that many say was won and lost on consumer sentiment and the economy. 
    CNBC analyzed shipping trends in red and blue states and spoke with shoppers in Texas, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, North Carolina and Virginia to better understand how the 2024 presidential election results could influence the holiday shopping season. 

    People who voted for President-elect Donald Trump were overwhelmingly positive about the future of the economy, while supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris were more pessimistic, concerned that the incoming president’s policies could make things harder on the middle class. In a world where sentiment drives purchasing decisions, these differences in opinion could shape how much people end up spending this holiday season.
    For example, Harris voter Amanda Davila, a 30-year-old New York City educator, told CNBC she’s planning to spend less on the holidays this year and is “trying to be more cautious” about spending in the leadup to Trump taking office in January. 
    “I’m worried about my own student loans and whether things will be taken out of forbearance, how much I’m going to be owing if the SAVE Plan [for student loan repayment] goes away and things like that,” said Davila. “It’s very hard being a millennial and having to worry about buying a house, affording groceries, rent, all that stuff. With our income, it’s not enough for everything these days.” 
    Meanwhile, Trump voter Armando Duarte, a 62-year-old retired utility worker from Fort Lee, New Jersey, told CNBC he’s feeling a lot better about the holiday shopping season after Trump won. 
    “I’m optimistic that people are gonna feel a little bit more encouraged to spend because they may feel that the economy might be on the mend and coming back,” said Duarte. “I think things are going to really pick up for the better … I think that inflation is going to come down. Jobs are good, but they’re going to get a lot better, and hopefully wages are going to go up, and people are going to be able to afford to just basically live.” 

    In the months before the 2024 election, retailers fretted over whether it would hurt sales and the all-important holiday shopping season, which was already facing a bleak outlook due to the shortened time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, among other challenges. Many companies issued cautious guidance for the back half of the year in part over concerns that the election would distract consumers from shopping or a drawn out certification process would lead to unrest and dampen sales. 
    However, now that Trump has decisively won the popular vote, it appears the election could boost sales — at least in many parts of the country — because his supporters largely believe that economic conditions will improve under his direction. If most Americans are feeling better about the economy, it means they’ll likely spend more, too, experts said. 
    “If they feel optimistic about what comes ahead, then they are willing to spend more, even if it is on a credit card, knowing or expecting that they’re going to have the money to then pay it off,” said Meir Statman, an expert in behavioral finance and a professor at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business. “So the general optimism of Republicans, on the whole, is likely to affect their spending. We know that sentiment generally affects what people do, including spending, and conversely, it might depress, of course, the sentiment of Democrats, and in all likelihood, negatively affect their spending.” 
    The way some Americans were shopping online in the aftermath of the election bolsters that argument.
    Shipping data gathered by e-commerce logistics provider Grip, which ships billions in merchandise across the country every year and specializes in the delivery of perishable goods, shows different shipping patterns in blue and red states. The firm examined the total number of packages it sent in the two months before the election and what percentage went to each state, and how that changed in the two weeks after the election.
    In GOP-won states, shipping volumes increased by 50.4% after the election, while Democrat-won states saw volumes decrease by an average of 11.2%. Only two blue states — Illinois and Minnesota — saw shipping volumes increase after the election, while all others saw rates fall.

    “Our data shows how major events like elections can significantly impact consumer sentiment, driving changes in eCommerce shopping behavior and logistics patterns,” Grip’s CEO Juan Meisel told CNBC. “After this year’s election, we saw significant shifts in spending activity, with some regions experiencing increased volumes as consumer confidence surged, while others saw declines.”
    In a national consumer survey taken after the election, GlobalData found 51.3% of respondents believe a Trump presidency will positively affect the economy, while 13.5% plan to spend more this season now that he’s been elected. Conversely, 7.2% said they plan to spend less.
    In another survey conducted by retail analytics firm First Insight, a third of consumers said they are planning to reduce their holiday spending budgets because of the election.
    “Consumers have mixed feelings about the election result. However, on balance, there are more who see it as positive for the economy than those who see it as negative,” said GlobalData managing director and retail analyst Neil Saunders. “If people feel good, they are more likely to spend a little more over the holidays. Trump may not have had a huge impact on Christmas, but as far as spending is concerned, he is more of a Santa-like figure than a Grinch.”

    Can Trump save Christmas? 

    In the leadup to the holiday shopping season, sales projections from the National Retail Federation and various consulting firms fell a bit flat after several years of strong growth, buoyed by inflation and pandemic stimulus checks.
    In the 10 years before the pandemic and after the Great Recession, holiday retail sales grew on average by 3.68% each year. In some ways, this year’s forecast is a return to that historical average.

    The NRF said it expects winter holiday spending in November and December to grow between 2.5% and 3.5%. At the high end, that’s close to the pre-pandemic, 10-year average, but on the low-end, it’s 32% lower than the historical average. 
    Either way you slice it, the forecast would represent the slowest growth since 2018, when holiday retail sales grew 1.8% from the year-ago period. 
    “I think we’re gonna have a tough Christmas this year,” said Isaac Krakovsky, the consulting retail leader for EY Americas. “All my clients, big clients, are telling me they’re spending less in capex. All of them, right? When it’s every single one of them, and it’s driven by what they’re seeing in the market, that leads me to think we’re gonna have a tough holiday season.” 

    A man dressed as Santa Claus holds up a sign as he arrives at former US resident and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s a campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa, on December 19, 2023. 
    Kamil Krzaczynski | Afp | Getty Images

    Most holiday forecasts came out before the election so they had not factored in any effects from Trump’s win. But most experts agree that a decisive victory is good for business one way or the other. 
    “The good news is, certainty is better than uncertainty, even if your person didn’t win … So I suppose that will help,” said Aaron Cheris, a partner with consulting firm Bain & Company. “Usually, in election years, you see a little bit of back loading where people maybe didn’t do stuff earlier because they were waiting to see what happened, and so will you see a little of that at the margin? Probably.”
    While many Americans appear to be feeling better about the economy in the aftermath of Trump’s election, inflation pain lingers and is expected to dampen holiday spending. Plus, some categories are expected to outperform others, which could create another winners and losers situation for retailers come January.
    Holiday sales for furniture and home furnishings are expected to decline in the high single digits, electronics and appliances are forecast to be flat while apparel and grocery are expected to grow in the low single digits, according to Bain’s forecast. Those differences across categories came out earlier this week when companies like Abercrombie & Fitch and Best Buy reported earnings. Abercrombie issued robust holidy guidance ahead of expectations while Best Buy fell short, warning demand for consumer electronics was waning.
    The retail sales forecasts gets a bit murkier, and a bit worse, when inflation is taken into consideration. The NRF’s forecast isn’t adjusted for inflation, nor are Bain and EY’s outlooks of 3% growth. When higher prices are stripped out of the guidance, real growth is expected to land around 0.5%, Krakovsky estimated. Cheris agreed that real growth should be much lower after inflation is taken into consideration.
    “It’s not negative, it’s not recessionary, but it’s not exciting,” said Cheris. 
    Between 2010 and 2019, holiday retail sales grew on average by 4.41% when adjusted for inflation, according to an analysis of data published by Bain. If real sales only grow between 0.5% and 1% this holiday season, it would be a major drop from the pre-pandemic historical average. 

    Shoppers browse for dresses during the Black Friday sale at the Vivo Activewear women’s clothing store in downtown Nairobi, Kenya November 24, 2023. 
    Thomas Mukoya | Reuters

    Overall, inflation has been propping up retail sales for the last few years, and many of the shoppers interviewed by CNBC lamented the impact of higher prices, regardless of their political affiliation. Some said they plan to spend more this year, but that’s only because prices are higher – not because they’re buying more things. 
    For Meri Pitts, a 24-year-old college student in Detroit who works in customer care, higher prices have made the holiday season feel more like a chore than something to look forward to.
    “I am the type of person, even if it’s not the holiday time, I love to go shopping. I love to, like, get my friends little gifts and things like that,” said Pitts. “Prices have skyrocketed so much that a pastime of mine that I’ve literally been enjoying since I was in high school … it’s just not as fun as it used to be because now I’m more worried about breaking my bank than I am about like getting people gifts that I feel like they deserve.”
    — Additional reporting by CNBC’s Michael Wayland, Melissa Repko, Sarah Whitten and Kristian Burt More

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    As retailers enter the holiday shopping season, the winners are pulling away from the pack

    Retailers’ earnings reports over the past two weeks have illustrated a sharp divide between brands that are winning sales and those that are missing out.
    Target, Kohl’s and Best Buy each reported disappointing results, but Walmart, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Abercrombie & Fitch posted strong sales in their most recent quarters.
    As shoppers have less money to go around, they are cutting out weaker retailers, said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail.

    Shoppers outside a Target store ahead of Black Friday, in Clifton, New Jersey, Nov. 26, 2024.
    Victor J. Blue | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    As the holiday season heats up, retailers are getting a fresh opportunity to attract even the most selective shoppers and convince them to splurge on discretionary items like party outfits, makeup or toys.
    But the free-spending season isn’t lifting sales for everyone.

    Retailers’ earnings reports over the past two weeks have illustrated a sharp divide between brands that are winning sales and those that are missing out.
    Target, Kohl’s and Best Buy each reported disappointing third-quarter results as early holiday deals fell short of meaningfully boosting their businesses. On the other hand, Walmart, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Abercrombie & Fitch posted strong sales in their most recent quarters.
    The reports come after a more-than-two-year stretch of inflation in the U.S. that caused shoppers to become selective about spending while balancing higher prices of groceries, housing, restaurant meals and more. Those patterns have persisted, even as inflation has cooled, forcing retailers to work harder to get customers to open up their wallets.
    Choosy consumers have made the gulf between successful and struggling retailers even more stark headed into the holiday shopping season, said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail.
    “People are still spending, but they perhaps don’t have as much to spend,” he said. “So rather than buying five things, they might be buying three things. And under that environment, it’s easy to say, ‘Well, where do I not go to buy things? Who am I going to cut out?’ And they’ll cut out the weak retailers.”

    Setting expectations

    Holiday spending in November and December is expected to increase by 2.5% to 3.5% compared with 2023 and range between $979.5 billion and $989 billion, according to the National Retail Federation, a retail trade group. That’s a smaller year-over-year increase than the 3.9% jump from the 2022 to 2023 holiday season, when spending totaled $955.6 billion. The NRF’s figure excludes automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants.
    Yet retailers’ forecasts for the holiday quarter have varied widely. Abercrombie and Dick’s both hiked their full-year outlooks this week and said they expect a strong holiday shopping season.
    “We’ve seen a strong early response to our holiday assortments, and we are ready and excited for the peak selling period to kick into high gear this week,” Abercrombie’s Chief Operating Officer Scott Lipesky said on the company’s earnings call.
    Nordstrom and Walmart struck a more cautious note.
    On Nordstrom’s earnings call, CEO Erik Nordstrom said the department store owner noticed slower shopping trends at the end of October and factored those into its forecast. The company offered a muted guidance adjustment, raising the low end of its sales forecast, despite beating Wall Street’s third-quarter sales expectations.
    Walmart Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey told CNBC that the holidays are “off to a pretty good start,” but consumers are still being careful with spending and are waiting for better prices.
    The big-box retailer raised its sales forecast and its results reflected a promising change in trends, however. For the second quarter in a row, Walmart’s sales of general merchandise — items outside of the grocery department or household essentials aisles — rose year over year. Before that, sales of general merchandise had declined for 11 straight quarters.
    Rainey said that swing likely reflects both easing inflationary pressures on families as food prices come down as well as the company’s own ability to sell more discretionary items as it’s added more to its website through third-party marketplace.
    Target and Kohl’s had downbeat forecasts. Kohl’s warned it will have a deeper than expected drop in sales and announced a change in CEO ahead of the crucial shopping season.
    Target said it expects comparable sales for the holiday quarter to be roughly flat. That metric includes sales on Target’s website and at stores open at least 13 months.
    Even with its lackluster forecast, Target stressed ways it’s trying to grab shoppers attention and dollars. On an earnings call last week, Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez said Target would carry more than 150 items inspired by Universal’s “Wicked” movie, including clothing, food, beauty items and toys. It will also drop an exclusive vinyl and book for Taylor Swift fans on Black Friday.
    And Target will lean on a tried-and-true retail tactic to try to drive traffic: It will cut prices on 2,000 additional items for the holiday season, after reducing them on 5,000 items earlier this year.

    Wants and needs

    GlobalData’s Saunders said Target, Kohl’s and department stores like Macy’s are in a tougher spot this holiday season, since they sell more wants instead of needs.
    Customers have “more of a tilt towards experiences” this year and want to buy gift items that have practical value.
    “The little stupid games and novelty socks and things — those are the areas where people are really cutting back a bit because they’re just meaningless purchases, and people don’t want to waste money, even if it’s just for a gift,” he said. “They want the gifts to be useful and relevant.”
    Some companies may have bought too much inventory headed into the shopping season — or the wrong mix of items. At Kohl’s, for instance, Saunders said he’s seen a lot of clothing and small appliances like coffeemakers and airfryers on display as the retailer gets ready for Black Friday. If shoppers don’t show up in full force, those items could wind up on the clearance rack.
    “I’m just looking at it and thinking ‘Is this going to sell through?'” he said. “Because you’re not getting the foot traffic into stores already. So why is that going to change over Black Friday?”
    Marshal Cohen, chief retail advisor for market research firm Circana, said the winning formula this holiday season will be value, not only with lower prices, but the perception of “the best bang for the buck” with items that have novelty or quality.
    And, he added, retailers are already teeing up external factors to blame in the event their holiday season underwhelms.
    “Every year, retailers always position themselves to have a good reason why they may not make their numbers,” Cohen said. “So when they talk about the weather, or they talk about a dock strike, or they talk about supply chain issues, it has more to do with the fact that they’re hedging their bet that they may have some challenges ahead.”
    “I always say, ‘OK, here comes the excuse this year. What’s it going to be?'”
    Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of CNBC and NBCUniversal. NBCUniversal distributed “Wicked.”
    — CNBC’s Gabrielle Fonrouge contributed to this report. More

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    On stupid rules and quick wins

    Interrogate the internet about the most ridiculous rules people have experienced at work, and the stories roll in. The lab assistant instructed to label the expiry dates on all chemical samples, who was reprimanded for not writing when a bottle of sand would go off (to comply, they put in a date 65m years hence). The accounting firm where only partners were allowed to have plants over a certain height. The company where employees were required to submit requests to maintenance if they wanted the height of their office chairs to be adjusted. The baroque limitations on how often people are allowed to go to the lavatory. More

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    Could seaweed replace plastic packaging?

    In Victorian London, among the factories and warehouses of the city’s East End, Alexander Parkes developed the world’s first plastic (he inventively called it Parkesine). Notpla, a startup now based in the same part of the city, wants to follow in his footsteps. Unlike Parkesine, however, its material is not made to last. And instead of fossil fuels, it is made from seaweed. At Emirates Stadium, not far away, football fans already gorge on hot dogs served on trays that use the material, which decomposes naturally in just six weeks. More

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    TikTok wants Western consumers to shop like the Chinese

    .css-1f0x4sl{color:var(–ds-color-london-5);font-family:var(–ds-type-system-serif);font-weight:400;font-size:var(–ds-type-scale-1);line-height:var(–ds-type-leading-lower);}.css-1f0x4sl del,.css-1f0x4sl s{-webkit-text-decoration:strikethrough;text-decoration:strikethrough;}.css-1f0x4sl strong,.css-1f0x4sl b{font-weight:700;}.css-1f0x4sl em,.css-1f0x4sl i{font-style:italic;}.css-1f0x4sl sup{font-feature-settings:’sups’ 1;}.css-1f0x4sl sub{font-feature-settings:’subs’ 1;}.css-1f0x4sl small,.css-1f0x4sl .small-caps{display:inline;font-size:inherit;font-variant:small-caps no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual;line-height:var(–ds-type-leading-lower);text-transform:lowercase;}.css-1f0x4sl u,.css-1f0x4sl .underline{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:0.125rem;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;}.css-1f0x4sl a{color:var(–ds-color-london-5);-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-color:var(–ds-color-chicago-45);text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;text-underline-offset:0.125rem;}.css-1f0x4sl a:hover{color:var(–ds-color-chicago-30);-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;}.css-1f0x4sl a:focus{background-color:var(–ds-color-chicago-95);color:var(–ds-color-london-5);outline:none;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-color:var(–ds-color-chicago-45);text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;}.css-1f0x4sl a:active{background-color:var(–ds-color-chicago-95);color:var(–ds-color-london-5);-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}.css-1f0x4sl [data-caps=’initial’],.css-1f0x4sl .drop-cap{float:left;font-feature-settings:’ss08′ 1;font-size:3.5rem;height:3.25rem;line-height:1;margin:0.0625rem 0.2rem 0 0;text-transform:uppercase;}.css-1f0x4sl [data-ornament=’ufinish’],.css-1f0x4sl .ufinish{color:var(–ds-color-economist-red);}.css-1f0x4sl [data-ornament=’ufinish’]::before,.css-1f0x4sl .ufinish::before{font-size:var(–ds-type-scale-1);content:’ ‘;}As the end of the year draws closer, shopping season is in full swing. On Black Friday, November 29th, retailers will offer steep discounts to lure customers. Some sales started weeks ago. Soon will come the mad dash for Christmas gifts. More