🕔 Retail Daily Minute | Best Buy Hikes Forecast on Tech Upgrades, Abercrombie's Hollister Surges & Kroger Ends Remote Work

Hello Omni Talk Fans! Best Buy reports great earnings in the same quarter in which it launched its marketplace. Coincidence?

In today’s Retail Daily Minute:

Best Buy raises its full-year sales outlook after strong third-quarter performance driven by computing, gaming, and mobile phone upgrades, with comparable sales up 2.7%.
Abercrombie & Fitch tops Q3 estimates as Hollister sales surge 16%, offsetting a 7% comparable sales decline at the namesake brand.
Kroger eliminates remote work for 4,800 corporate employees starting January, requiring five-day in-office attendance.

Plus, a quote from a very electronic film.

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Today’s Top Headlines

1. Best Buy Raises Forecast on Strong Tech Demand

Best Buy raised its full-year forecast after exceeding quarterly sales expectations, driven by strong customer demand for laptop upgrades, gaming consoles, and smartphones. The consumer electronics retailer increased revenue guidance to $41.65-$41.95 billion and adjusted earnings to $6.25-$6.35 per share, with comparable sales now expected to grow. (Read More)

2. Abercrombie Beats Expectations as Hollister Surges 16%

Abercrombie & Fitch exceeded third-quarter expectations with earnings of $2.36 per share versus expected $2.16, as net sales rose 6.9% to $1.29 billion. Hollister brand surged 16% while Abercrombie sales fell 2%. The company achieved three years of consecutive quarterly growth and returned $100 million to shareholders. (Read More)

3. Kroger Ends Remote Work for Corporate Employees

Kroger will require approximately 4,800 headquarters employees to work in-office five days weekly starting January, ending remote work options. The supermarket giant cites improved in-person collaboration, faster problem-solving, and better priority alignment as reasons. Previously, corporate staff worked in-office three to four days per week. (Read More)

4. Dick’s to Close Foot Locker Stores After Acquisition

Dick’s Sporting Goods will close multiple Foot Locker stores after completing its acquisition, implementing restructuring to protect fiscal 2026 profits. The company is taking aggressive markdowns and impairing store assets. Foot Locker comparable sales are expected down mid- to high-single digits with margins declining 10-15 percentage points. (Read More)

5. ChatGPT Launches Shopping Research for Product Discovery

ChatGPT introduced shopping research, a new feature helping users find products by researching across the internet and building personalized buyer’s guides. Rolling out on mobile and web for all plan types, it asks clarifying questions and reviews quality sources. Nearly unlimited usage available through holidays for gift shoppers. (Read More)

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