Costco is suffering from a cheese shortage. In fact, cheese imports to all US retailers have been impacted. This dairy 'crisis' has been caused by higher demand, a global shortage of shipping containers, as well as bottlenecks at several main West Coast sea ports, including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland and Seattle. In fact, there are containers with cheese stock sitting out at sea unable to get in to the US. Why? One factor is imports to America by sea grew by 20% in January compared to the same month in 2020, with the cost of getting goods into the US by water reaching $6.36 billion (£4.6bn), more than double the $2.46 billion (£1.8bn) cost in January last year. But the rise in shipping demand is not the only reason for the lack of cheese on the shelves; click or scroll on to find out what else is to blame...
Issues in other markets and their tariffs are also having a huge impact. "If cheese is being imported out of Europe or Oceania, trade deals or any number of reasons could affect the import in the US," according to Blake Anderson, President of the American Dairy Products Institute. Strangely, the shortage of imported cheese comes at a time when America's dairy exports have actually increased. Unsurprisingly, cheese isn't the only product that is in short supply; click or scroll to discover what else has become hard to come by...
Costco CFO Richard Galanti reported in the company's earnings call that it was also experiencing decreased supplies of olive oil and seafood, as well as other household goods such as furniture, garden supplies and sports equipment due to the container shortages. However, Galanti noted that Costco "expect these pressures to ease in the coming months, but it’s impacting everyone, of course".
Click or scroll on to find out why Costco isn't the only retailer dealing with bad news this week...
Inditex, the Spanish fashion group that owns Zara, Pull and Bear, and Bershka, announced that its net profits fell by 70% in 2020 compared to 2019. In fact, last year saw Inditex record its first ever quarterly loss as the coronavirus pandemic, stay-at-home orders and shop closures impacted sales. But following a better performance in the second half of the year, Inditex still managed to record an annual net profit of €1.1bn ($1.3bn/£940m). That said, it's not out of the woods yet, and as of 8 March around 15% of Inditex's shops worldwide were still closed.
Click or scroll on to see a famous retail name that is shutting stores for good...
Even the brand known for its magic has been unable to stave off the negative impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and the shift to online. At least 60 Disney Stores across North America will close this year as it looks to reduce the number of physical stores in its portfolio, with 38 US stores in 16 states set to close by 23 March. The 60 stores represent 30% of its total number of stores across North America.
Click or scroll on to see why one retailer that had a strong 2020 is closing stores for a different reason...
Kroger reported strong sales throughout 2020, including a 14.6% rise in sales in the second quarter. Despite this, the company has announced that it will be shutting stores in California and Washington because of new district laws on hazard pay, where grocery workers must be paid extra to compensate for working on the frontline during the pandemic. It will close two Ralphs and one Food 4 Less in LA, one Food 4 Less and a Ralphs in Long Beach, California in April, and two QFC stores in Seattle. Instead of paying the additional $4 per hour to each member of staff, Kroger opted to shutter the stores altogether. Company spokespeople have said that the wage increases weren’t feasible as the sites had been struggling, despite the overall boom in sales and Kroger being the world’s largest grocery chain in terms of revenue.
Click or scroll on to discover another big retailer making changes in the pandemic...
Walmart has dropped the $35 minimum order limit on its Express delivery service. The service is currently available at 3,000 Walmart stores and delivers items to customers in less than two hours. However, the service will continue to cost $10 plus a delivery charge, unless you're a member of Walmart+, in which case you'll only pay $10 for an order. The change came into effect on 1 March. Walmart says its Express delivery service reaches 70% of the US population.
Click or scroll on to see why one of Walmart's biggest rivals now has a different look...
In January, Amazon's shopping app logo on phones changed from a basket (pictured left) to a parcel with the famous smile logo and a strip of blue packaging tape at the top (pictured centre). Unfortunately, people took to social media and compared the jagged tape to a toothbrush-style moustache, most infamously sported by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Amazon has now changed the logo again so the blue tape is straight and folded over at the corner (pictured right), presumably to avoid any further associations with one of history's most reviled figures.
Finally, click or scroll on to see which retailer has joined the race to offer COVID-19 vaccinations...
This week Target announced that the COVID-19 vaccine was available at 600 in-store CVS pharamacies across 17 states. This means that the service is now serving an additional 12 states: Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nevada, Oklahoma, Utah and Vermont. The vaccine service is also being expanded from New York to New York City, and from Pennsylvania to Philadelphia. Target and CVS aren't the only retailers offering it. Kroger, Walmart and Walgreens are among the other retailers that have joined the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID-19 Vaccination. Vaccines are free, but some retailers have received criticism for asking people to create store accounts and provide them with personal data in order to receive it.
Now see how America's stimulus checks compare to other countries' support