In view of the dip in sales, a Walmart spokesperson on Wednesday announced that its stores will stop selling AR-15 rifle and other semi-automatic weapons.

The stocks of these semi-automatic equipments were already limited to less than half of the company’s 4600 stores across the US. The company officials said that even these stocks will be taken off the shelves within two weeks.

Walmart’s spokesperson, Kory Lundberg, clarified that this decision was politically influenced and was taken a year ago. "It's similar to what we do with any product. Being what it is, it gets a little more attention, but it's the same process for any other product," Lundberg said.

Commerce Department’s statistics revealed that Americans made maximum investment in cars, eating out and ordering services in July—resulting in better consumer confidence in market.

Retail sales jumped 0.6% in July while the figures were flat in the previous month (June).

Market analysts said that increased investment in retail sector can have a positive impact on the economy given the fact that consumer expenses drive the US economic trends.

“This report looks solid after a run of disappointing numbers,” said Ian Shepherdson, Chief Economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Analysts said that the economy growth was scaled at 3% during the second quarter. This was in contrast with estimated growth of 2.3% in July.

Amazon said that customers ordered 34.4 million items across the world during its Prime Day sale. The Seattle based company said that this year’s record broke last year's Black Friday sale.

The company also stated that several new members also tried its US$99-per-year Prime service on the day of the sale, with The Lord of the Rings movie box sets proving the most sought-after product.

It was found that some limited-period deals were offered on a long list of items ranging from microfiber towels to televisions and robotic vacuum cleaners.

As per sources, seller who uses Amazon's fulfillment services reported a 300% rise in their unit sale. One of the vendor said he made US$16,000 (RM60,900) per hour.

Struggling teen clothing retailer American Apparel revealed a restructuring plans to reduce costs. The company also warned that it could be quite tough for it to meet funding requirements within coming 12 months.

The company, which is being sued by founder and former CEO Dov Charney, said on Monday it would cut jobs and close stores to slash costs by about $30 million over the next 18 months.

Schneider has made several changes in the company since it took the charge in January. Some major changes include revamping its edgy and oft-maligned marketing strategy, remaking the organization's management structure, and bringing in more stringent forecasting and budgeting processes.

The Federal Trade Commission stated that Dollar Tree and Family Tree will sell 330 Family Dollar stores. By selling these stores, they would be able to settle a complaint that their merger will probably be anticompetitive. With this, the FTC permitted Dollar Tree to buy Family Dollar Stores.

Dollar Tree said that the deal can be closed by Wednesday. As per the FTC, Dollar Tree has offered to sell the stores to private equity firm Sycamore Partners. There is a condition, as the stores need to be sold within 150 days after the deal is closed.

New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) is investigating the Whole Foods for charging higher price for its pre-packaged foods. Authorities concerned have termed the practice of overcharging in the grocery chain as the worst case of mislabeling they have seen in their careers.

“It is unacceptable that New Yorkers shopping for a summer BBQ or who grab something to eat from the self-service aisles at New York City’s Whole Foods stores have a good chance of being overcharged”, stated DCA Commissioner Julie Menin.

Whole Foods having nine stores in New York City and one will soon open in Harlem has not clearly denied the charges, but also said that any overcharges were not intentional.

Ryan Gosling has sent an open letter to US warehouse store Costco on Tuesday, which seeks to stop selling eggs from caged chicken by the retail company.

Gosling wrote the letter after watching the Humane Society of the United States' undercover video, which showed animal mistreatment by one of the store's major suppliers.

The Crazy, Stupid, Love actor has written to Costco chief executive Craig Jelinek in a letter published by the Humane Society.

Gosling wrote, "It is appalling that Costco has been selling these eggs with deceptive labelling on cartons featuring graphics of birds living out in a green pasture". "Video footage revealed abhorrent cruelty including rows and rows of birds confined in filth-laden cages with the mummified corpses of their cage mates ".

A 48-inch water main broke leading to around 13 million gallons of water on the streets of northwest Philadelphia on Thursday afternoon. The incident happened at a parking lot of a shopping center and led to evacuation.

The pipe running through the parking lot of the Bakers Square complex in the northwest part of Philadelphia got ruptured. Philadelphia Water Department spokesman John DiGiulio said that the nearby railroad tracks seem to have been damaged.

It is said that the water completely covered some parked cases. Firefighters were present at the scene and made people to reach at safe places. They even used an inflatable raft to get others people out.

Starbucks said that its La Boulange bakery-cafes were not able to maintain the company’s long-term growth. Therefore, it has decided to shut down all the 23 cafes.

“Based on our ongoing evaluations, Starbucks has determined La Boulange stores are not sustainable for the company's long-term growth”, said the company.

The cafes are quite famous for their décor and menus inspired by France. The cafes are said to be the favorite breakfast and lunch places in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2012, Starbucks purchased La Boulange for $100 million.

On Monday, clothing retailer Gap Inc. announced about its plans of closing 175 North American stores and cut 250 corporate jobs.

Things unveiled by the company with regard to the plan include-

• Around 18% of its stores will be closed in North America. This fiscal year, around 140 will close. The announcement is for namesake stores. The company is still decided which stores should be closed, including some in Europe.

It shall be noted that outlets and factory sales will not be affected. The company will continue to operate 500 Gap stores and 300 outlets. Bulk of the stores to be closed is majorly in Europe.

On Thursday, the Commerce Department said that the retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 1.2% after a 0.2% gain in April.

The department said that retail spending was increased by Americans in May. They increased it especially for autos, clothes and building materials. This indicates that that the strong job market finally is starting to bear fruit for the consumer economy.

The increase in shopping indicated greater confidence in an economy, which is still shaking off the ruins of a recession that officially ended six years ago.
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In the past year, employers have added more than three million jobs. Many workers are saving as much of their paychecks as they could.

American foods supermarket chain Whole Foods announced that the name its new sister chain of lower-priced grocery stores will be '365 by Whole Foods Market'.

The company said that it though to use one of its house brands, '365' as the name in the hopes of that it will attract younger customers. According to said Jon Springer, retail editor for Supermarket News, the new chain might also be inspired by the success of companies such as Trader Joe's and Sprouts.

He said, "They've identified millennial shoppers, younger shoppers who are very particular about what they eat but also tough about what they can spend on food".

Co-CEO Walter Robb said that while 365 products will anchor the stores, the chain will have other items, including national brands.

It has been announced by Macy's M that it has signed a deal with a major retail to have Men's Wearhouse tux rental shops at 300 of its department stores.

Macy's M will soon have hundreds of Men's Wearhouse tux rental shops in its deal with the major brand intended to bring new customers.

The department store will include three Men's Wearhouse mini-shops at 300 of its department stores. The store already house similar shops for outside retailers like Lids sports apparel and Finish Line footwear. Men's Wearhouse will run these shops and its employees will be the staff in dedicated space in or in the vicinity of the men's department in Macy's stores.

Target Corp said in an announcement that it is looking forward to increase its share buyback program by double to $10 billion. It also wants to raise dividend by 7.7%. The revelation confirmed the contents of a statement published by the company previously and later taken off its website earlier on Tuesday.

The company had invested $3.7 billion through the first quarter of 2015, retiring 56.9 million shares under the buyback program. Also, it raised quarterly dividend to 56 cents per share from 52 cents in the prior quarter.

According to Fortune, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is on top of the Fortune 500 list for the third straight year, remaining the largest company in the country.

Revenue of Wal-Mart was $485.7 billion in its fiscal year, ending on January 31; it was over $100 billion ahead of number two, Exxon Mobil of Irving, Texas; the company had revenue of $382.6 billion last year.

Chevron, which is based in San Ramon, Calif., was at third position with $203.8 billion in revenue last year. Berkshire Hathaway of Omaha, Neb., Warren Buffet's conglomerate of companies, held fourth position with $194.7 billion in revenue. General Motors of Detroit was at fifth position with $155.9 billion in revenue.

It has been reported that Guess?, Inc.'s North American retail revenues dropped 6% for its first quarter that ended on May 2, 2015. Retail comp sales together with e-commerce declined 6% in US dollars and 4% in constant currency.

European revenues of the company fell 14% in US dollars and rose 8% in constant currency. Its Asian revenues decreased 9% in US dollars and 6% in constant currency. Wholesale revenues of the company also suffered to some extent, falling 5% in US dollars and increasing 1% in constant currency. The company generated $4 million from operations in Q1 fiscal 2016, whereas it lost $2 million during the same period a year ago.

There are chances that world's largest retailer Wal-Mart Stores could make its second wage hike this year. The largest private employer in the United States said that it will increase minimum wages of more than 100,000 US employees.

On Tuesday, the company announced that from July it will increase hourly wages for managers of service-oriented departments like electronics and auto care from $10.30-$20.09 to $13-$24.70.

Hourly wages of managers of departments like clothing and consumer products will increase from $9.90-$19.31 to $10.90-$20.71. Workers at specialized areas like the deli sections, workers will earn $9.90-$18.81 per hour in comparison with $9.20-$18.53 currently.

It has been announced by Dollar General Corporation that Wilmington native Todd J. Vasos, Dollar General's current chief operating officer has been named as chief executive officer of the company; he has been named by the company's board of directors.

According to a news release from the company, after the election of Vasos to Dollar General's board, the total number of directors will become nine. Vasos will be succeeding Rick Dreiling, who is at present, chairman and CEO of the company. Dreiling has already announced regarding his retirement plans.

Consumer electronics company Best Buy has been trying to lure customers to preorder the LG G4 smartphone by giving a Best Buy gift card of about $100 with the order. There are reports that the new LG G4 will be a new flagship device, which will compete with phones like Samsung's Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus of Apple and the HTC One M9.

According to smartphone experts, the new LG G4 will offer the users two coveted features: a removable battery and microSD expansion slot. The new smartphone of LG will overcome the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge of Samsung which do not have removable battery or microSD expansion slot. The new smartphone will allowed the users to have a user-removable battery.

According to reports, the largest Internet-based retailer in the United States, Amazon.com, has begun disbursing tax on profits from its sales to its customers from Germany instead of showing them in its accounts in Luxembourg.

The announcement by the company has been confirmed by the largest German national subscription daily newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung. According to reports, the change took effect on May 1.