Walmart sees strong sales growth
The Yuma County Chamber of Commerce is hosting its monthly mixer at the Yuma Regional Medical Center Specialty Clinic from 5:30-7 p.m. on Wednesday.
The clinic is located in the Tuscany Plaza 2851 S. Avenue B, Bldg. 20, Suite 2001.
The networking event will have food, refreshment, prizes and games. Everyone is invited and welcome to attend.
The cost to attend is $15. Chamber members pay only $5. For more information, call 928-782-2567.
YPG hosting Women’s Equality Day luncheon on Thursday
Yuma Proving Ground is hosting a Women’s Equality Day luncheon at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday at the Cactus Cafe Restaurant. Guest speakers will be Yuma County Supervisor Lynne Pancrazi, a former state representative, and Stephanie Gattas, CEO of The Pink Berets.
The Women’s Equality Day committee is hoping to encourage more opportunities for the local community to engage with YPG personnel. The mission of YPG is to plan, conduct, assess, analyze, report and support developmental tests, production tests and integrated developmental and operational tests; and provide training support to Army, sister services, Department of Defense, U.S. government, international and commercial customers. The current commander is Col. Ross C. Poppenberger.
Tickets for the luncheon cost $11. For tickets, contact one of the following: Selina Strawn, SSG Medical Command, 928-328-2666; Carolyn Lauzon, EEO Office, 928-328-2736; Michele Dominguez, 928-328-4090; Iliana Griffith, 328-6285; or Brianna Carlson, 928-3282964.
Networking event for real estate agents on Thursday
AEA Federal Credit Union is hosting a free networking event for local real estate agents at 8:30-11:30 a.m. on Thursday.
The event will feature a “energy boosting” breakfast, followed by presentations on generational marketing and how it can help agents target their leads; how to leverage social media to bring in new clients; and learning the tricks to getting professional photos with a cellphone.
Participants will also have the opportunity to meet the AEA Mortgage Lending Team to discuss how the credit union can help agents and their clients.
The first 20 attendees will receive a free on-site car wash.
To reserve a seat, email Lindy@LimeLightCreativeGroup.com or call 928276-3408.
Employers encouraged to sign up for community job fair
Arizona @ Work is holding the 2018 Yuma Community Job and Education Fair on Oct. 3 and is inviting participants to sign up now.
Space is limited so participants are asked to register early. Those who sign up prior to Aug. 24 will be mentioned in promotional advertising and press releases. The registration deadline is Sept. 7.
Employers who sign up must have jobs available. Employers with job openings will have priority. Space will be available for on-site interviews if needed.
The event will be held at the Yuma Civic Center, 1440 W. Desert Hills Drive, and the concession stand will be open for those wishing to buy lunch.
For more information, contact Grace J. Wehrle at gwehrle@azdes.gov or 928329-0990.
Chick-fil-A testing new item in Yuma
Get ready for something spicy in Yuma. Chick-fil-A restaurants in Arizona are being added to the list for testing new Spicy Chick-nStrips — a combination of two customer favorites, the original Chick-n-Strips and the Spicy Chicken Sandwich.
Customers can taste test the spicy strips starting Aug. 25, according to a company press release.
“We‘re excited to hear what customers in the test markets think,” said Matt Reed from Chick-fil-A’s menu development team.
The new Spicy strips are seasoned with a spicy blend of peppers, then are handbreaded and cooked in 100 percent refined peanut oil. The strips are available in 3-count or 4-count entrees with choice of dipping sauce.
The taste test will help determine if the new Spicy Chick-n-Strips are added to the menu nationwide.
NEW YORK — Walmart raised its financial outlook for the year on Thursday after beating Wall Street’s expectations for the quarter and seeing the strongest growth in more than a decade in sales at established stores.
The upbeat report indicates that Walmart’s efforts to improve the experience shoppers have at its stores and expand its online services, particularly in grocery, are helping bring people to its websites and stores. Like many other retailers, Walmart is also benefiting from a stronger job market and rising confidence. Home Depot, Macy’s and Nordstrom all raised their forecasts this week.
However, not everyone is benefiting. J.C. Penney posted a bigger-than-expected loss and saw a key sales metric fall well short of expectations, and it cut its full-year outlook again.
Walmart said sales were strong across many categories but the grocery business was notable with sales rising the most in nine years, fueled by fresh items like meat and produce. That helped sales at stores open at least a year rise 4.5 percent at Walmart’s U.S. division, better than analysts expected. The measure, an indicator of a retailer’s health, was helped by a more than 2 percent increase in customer traffic and in transactions.
With shoppers feeling confident, the National Retail Federation trade group raised its annual sales forecast this week, citing the results of tax cuts and an improving job market. But it warned that trade wars between China and the U.S. could dampen consumer confidence in the second half of the year, the busiest time for retail. Walmart said that it’s using its scale to mitigate tariff effects.
Since buying Jet.com for more than $3 billion two years ago, Walmart has been bolstering its online business by acquiring brands like Bonobos and ModCloth. It’s also working to speed up delivery to compete better with Amazon, and is expanding same-day grocery delivery.
Walmart is also revamping its website with a focus on fashion and home furnishings. It has teamed up with Lord & Taylor to offer the department store dedicated space on its site. The company said the grocery pickup service for online shoppers, at more than 1,800 stores so far, is helping attract new customers and existing ones are adding an extra item in their cart.
Those kinds of moves helped drive a 40 percent increase in online sales in the U.S. for the latest quarter. That was up from a 33 percent increase the previous period, after a dramatic growth slowdown in the critical fourth quarter.
Internationally, Walmart has been refocusing on areas with big growth potential like India and China. In May, it acquired a controlling stake in Flipkart, India’s largest online retailer, for $16 billion in its biggest acquisition yet. And it is selling its British unit, Asda, which has been struggling with intense competition from German no-frills discounters Aldi and Lidl.
But international investments hurt results in the latest quarter. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer lost $861 million, or 29 cents per share. It was affected by its investment in online retailer JD.com and a loss on selling a majority stake in Walmart Brazil. Adjusted for one-time costs, it earned $1.29 per share, easily topping Wall Street projections, according to Zacks Investment Research.
Revenue came to $128.03 billion, also beating projections.
Walmart now expects earnings for the current fiscal year of $4.90 to $5.05 per share, excluding charges related to Flipkart. Analysts expected $4.78 per share, according to FactSet.