Latest news with #retail
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Firefighters tackling blaze at retail park
Animals and shoppers have been evacuated from a retail park in Northamptonshire while firefighters battle a large blaze. Emergency services are on the scene of the fire at a Dunelm store in the St James Retail Park, in Northampton. In images sent to the BBC, thick plumes of smoking can be seen billowing into the sky from the home furnishing store. Northamptonshire Police and the Northamptonshire Fire Service said "no one is believed to be injured" while animals in the nearby Pets at Home shop have been "moved to safety". Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The $1.38 Hot Dog and More Sam's Club Food Items Cheaper Than Costco
Shopping at Costco and Sam's Club has major perks like getting big discounts on bulk items, saving money on groceries and household items, and scoring a cheap meal at the food court. It's hard to resist a soft, salty pretzel from Sam's Cafe or pizza from Costco after a major shopping haul, and while both have loyal fans, Sam's Club is upping their food court game. Read Next: Find Out: Earlier this year, the warehouse giant added new items to the Grab and Go section that you don't have to buy in bulk. According to a video posted by @samsclubmembers on Instagram, shoppers can enjoy healthy salads, sandwiches and bakery goods like a slice of the infamous Tuxedo Cake. In addition, Sam's Cafe will now stay open the duration of the Club hours so you can pick up your favorite foods while shopping Monday through Saturday until 8:00 pm, and Sunday until 6:00 pm. While Sam's Club has ramped up their Cafe, prices do not reflect the upgrades. Costs rival Costco's and offer members cheaper prices on certain items. Here are three things you can get for less at Sam's Club Cafe than at Costco. Costco's Food court is widely known for its generous portions, consistent quality andunbelievable prices like the $1.50 hot dog and soda combo that's been the same cost since the 1980s, NPR reported. While that's a hard to beat deal, Sam's Club did and is now offering their combo for just $1.38, which includes a ¼ pound hot dog and 30 oz. drink. Explore More: At Costco, members can indulge in the ultimate sweet treat — a vanilla ice cream sundae topped with strawberries or chocolate for just $2.49, per Country Living. At Sam's Club Cafe, members can order the crowd-pleasing 4-berry sundae with raspberry, strawberry, blueberry and blackberry with their choice of vanilla or chocolate for $1.58. Shoppers also have a new flavor to look forward to for a limited time. To celebrate Member's Mark Month, Sam's Club will offer a Peaches & Cream Sundae for $1.58 from June 2 through 30. Costco is famous for their food court pizza, and customers can pick up a whole pie for $9.95. However, Sam's Club has officiall upped the ante. Starting May 22, members have been able to order the Member's Mark 16″ Hot Baked Pizza delivered hot to their doorstep for just $8.98. The popular pie will arrive in less than three hours so you don't have to worry about dinner, according to a press release announcing the big news. Sam's Club has focused on making their cafes a convenient, affordable and easy option so members can take care of their household needs while grabbing a quick, cheap bite. More From GOBankingRates 8 Dollar Tree Items Retirees Need To Buy Ahead of Summer 2025 Are You Rich or Middle Class? 8 Ways To Tell That Go Beyond Your Paycheck 7 Things You'll Be Happy You Downsized in Retirement This article originally appeared on The $1.38 Hot Dog and More Sam's Club Food Items Cheaper Than Costco
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ulta sees signs of improvement in Q1, but stays cautious
This story was originally published on Retail Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Retail Dive newsletter. After a year of mixed performance, Ulta Beauty showed some positive momentum in the first quarter, with net sales up 4.5% to $2.8 billion. Comps in the quarter also increased 2.9% in the period, per a company press release. Ulta is seeing improvement in the performance of stores that were hit by competitive openings, like Sephora's Kohl's shop-in-shops, CEO Kecia Steelman said Thursday on a call with analysts. The retailer's stores recorded their first positive comps in more than a year. The executive added that Ulta's efforts to improve operations, including store cleanliness, appropriate staffing and fully stocked inventory, have helped as well. Total inventory was up more than 11% in the quarter, helping Ulta's in-stock positioning. Though Ulta executives expressed confidence in the beauty retailer's strategy and raised guidance slightly as a result, the company remains cautious about how consumer spending will shape up for the rest of the year. Steelman referenced beauty's recession-proof qualities, as well as shoppers' view of the category as a 'comfort and escape' from the stress of the current macro environment, as positives for Ulta. At the same time, though, she said customers are prioritizing value and warned that they may not follow through on their planned spending. 'While they tell us that they intend to prioritize beauty and wellness — that's what they say — but they could also do something very different depending on the environment,' Steelman said. 'So we're being really prudent.' CFO Paula Oyibo also stressed that while beauty is usually resilient, it's not 'immune to consumer pressure,' especially given the chaos and uncertainty caused by the Trump administration's tariff policies. 'One quarter doesn't make a trend,' Oyibo said as an explanation for why Ulta's guidance remains relatively conservative. Nevertheless, Ulta is seeing some green shoots from its operational initiatives as well. During the quarter, the retailer invested in higher staffing in stores, added more newness to stores and tweaked its marketing approach. In particular, Ulta cut back on less productive sales offers and made more distinct calls to action in communicating with shoppers. The retailer is on track to launch its marketplace in the second half of the year and will open its first stores in Mexico City, Kuwait City and the United Arab Emirates' Dubai later this year. Ulta said last year it planned to expand to Mexico. Less tangibly, Steelman also noted that Ulta is making progress on 'reenergizing our culture,' which she described as a competitive advantage. Steelman took over as CEO for Dave Kimbell in January and has since announced several leadership changes, including naming a chief merchandising and digital officer last month. This quarter marks the 'first time in a while' that Ulta drove share across the category, according to Steelman. The retailer lost share in beauty for the first time last year. 'It seems like everything the team is doing is showing signs of effectiveness, and in a fairly quick manner,' Piper Sandler analysts led by Korinne Wolfmeyer said in an analyst note. 'This undoubtedly builds on our optimism around the [long-term] opportunity here, but we still want to be prudent around competition, market volatility, and margin risks that could come.' Recommended Reading The Weekly Closeout: Coty to cut 700 jobs, Adidas sports double-digit growth Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
WIRED
5 hours ago
- Business
- WIRED
This Staples Standing Desk Isn't Flashy but It's Reliable for the Money
The desk height ranges from 25.5 to 51.1 inches, and the dual motors glide effortlessly up and down, and they're not too loud. You'll want to be careful when lowering it—there's collision detection, and it successfully stopped the desk from crushing a stool after I put it underneath, but it seems to depend on where the object under the desk is. I rolled my seat in so that the arms of my chair were directly under the desktop, and when I pressed the lower height preset, the desk kept going and would have probably broken my chair arms (or toppled forward) had I not forced it to stop. Maybe had I not stopped it, the sensor would have paused the operation automatically, but it was a little too close to my liking. I haven't noticed much wobbling when the desk goes up and down, though if you put pressure on the front of the desk (maybe you're leaning forward with your elbows on the surface), there's a slight forward shift. This didn't cause any problems. Staples offers a seven-year warranty for the motor and legs, along with a few other parts, but the control box, cables, control panel, and desktop are only covered for five years. That's about the same as what you'll find on a Flexispot, though short of desks like the Branch Duo that don't cost that much more. The nice thing about buying from Staples is that returns are always free, and you can drop it off at a nearby retail store (though you'll still have to disassemble it). Photograph: Julian Chokkattu Photograph: Julian Chokkattu The middle button on the control panel turns on Micro Movement mode, and at first, I thought it didn't work, but that was because I didn't realize how micro the movements are. Once turned on, the desk will move up 2.36 inches within five minutes, stop for two minutes, then move down the same amount in another five-minute increment. This will repeat after 48 minutes and cycle four times throughout four hours. Staples says this will help reduce fatigue and encourage movement—subtle shifts in posture and muscle engagement—but the only reason I started noticing it was because my arms felt pinched. I set the desk up perfectly to my height and seat—my elbows sat level with the desktop without touching the surface. But for a few minutes with this feature turned on, my elbows suddenly were resting on the edge of the table, and it wasn't pleasant. It works a little better when you're standing, though you'll still feel your arms resting on the table as the desk creeps upward. I didn't find the Micro Movements feature helpful. I didn't feel like it encouraged movement, and I'm still fatigued from, well, everything. The best part of a standing desk is that it enables you to stand up, which will hopefully then induce some actual movement throughout your workday. The Micro Movements feel akin to the active seating hype, which has never felt particularly effective. Thankfully, it's an optional feature, and you can ignore it. And you probably should if budget is on your mind, because Staples has other dual-motor 55-inch desks without this feature, but they're not cheaper. You can size down to the 48-inch standing desk, but it only has a single motor. This Union & Scale is a solid desk for the money, with easy assembly, simple configuration, and a dual-motor system that operates smoothly. That said, Flexispot's desks have more desktop customization options, sizes, colors, and accessories you can add on, and they cost roughly the same, if not less. I've had more trouble with Flexispot's assembly process in the past, though, if that's worth something.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Tesco to close stores early after Reeves tax raid
Tesco is to close some stores an hour earlier after being struck by a £235m rise in staff costs from Rachel Reeves's tax raid. Britain's biggest supermarket is understood to be trialling shorter opening hours at Express stores, shutting some at 10pm rather than 11pm. Tesco is also expected to have fewer staff running those stores when they are open. Workers have been told the trial is taking place in some of Tesco's less profitable stores, which have been dubbed 'Express Lite' shops internally. A spokesman said the changes were designed to 'make things simpler for our colleagues and to ensure that we are running these shops in the most efficient way'. They said the trial was taking place in a small number of stores. The change comes after Ken Murphy, Tesco's chief executive, said that the supermarket was racing to offset a wave of extra costs following the Chancellor's tax raid, which took effect from April. That month, the grocer said it was facing a steep rise in its staffing bill, including a £235m increase in National Insurance contributions in the latest financial year. Under the changes, which came into force in the spring, employers pay a tax equivalent to 15pc of their workers' pay packets, up from 13.8pc previously. The threshold at which the tax kicks in has also fallen from earnings of £9,100 a year to £5,000. As well as the National Insurance changes, the minimum wage also rose by 6.7pc in April. Altogether, retailers are facing £7bn of extra costs following Ms Reeves's Budget, according to the British Retail Consortium. Mr Murphy in April said that Tesco would strip out about £500m of costs in the coming financial year to offset the Budget hit. He urged Ms Reeves to avoid increasing retailers' costs further, saying: 'All we're saying as an industry is, don't make it too hard for us to keep delivering great value.' This weekend, union leaders voiced concerns over the changes to 'Express Lite' stores, saying they risked creating problems for staff. Daniel Adams, Usdaw national officer, said the union 'has not agreed this change and we will be monitoring the trials closely to assess the impact on our members'. He added: 'The union has repeatedly raised issues with the business around the risks of low staffing and retain significant concerns around how this trial will work. 'While we have been assured by the company that they do not anticipate any redundancies from this process, we are aware it may involve staff transferring to other stores. That in itself can cause problems with travel, caring commitments and shift patterns.' Tesco is understood to be speaking to affected staff and is taking into account individual circumstances if they need to transfer to another store. A spokesman said: 'These changes aren't visible to our customers, who will continue to receive the same great service they expect, and there are no changes to the range of products we sell.' Other businesses are also shutting earlier in a bid to counter the increase in staff costs. In April, The Telegraph revealed that pubs were calling last orders earlier, closing up at 9pm rather than 11pm. The attempts to make stores run more efficiently also come amid mounting pressure from rival Asda, which this year kicked off a price war to try to win back shoppers. Last week, Allan Leighton, the Asda chairman, said the supermarket had opened up a gap with Tesco on prices. He said the store would continue to cut prices on some items, while raising prices of other goods more slowly. Tesco warned in April that its profits would fall as much as 14pc this year as it prepares to invest £400m in price cuts. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
