Canada Retail Sales Fell 1.1% in May, Largest Drop in a Year

The strain on Canadian consumers became more evident last month after a rush to buy cars ahead of price increases from tariffs appeared to come to an end.
An advance estimate suggests receipts for retailers plunged 1.1% in May, the biggest decline in a year, Statistics Canada said Friday. That more than reversed April's 0.3% gain, which was slightly lower the median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

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Fast Company

30 minutes ago

• Fast Company

Kirkland's Home is closing dozens of stores in new rebrand, adding to list of retailers shutting locations in 2025

Dozens of Kirkland's Home stores will close as part of the retailer's recently announced rebranding efforts. Some existing stores will be converted to Bed Bath & Beyond Home stores as part of the transformation, the company said this week. Kirkland's will streamline its footprint by closing at least two dozen of its 313 existing Kirkland's Home stores. The company will launch its first Bed Bath & Beyond Home store in Brentwood, Tennessee, in August 2025, with five stores to follow. Pending the initial market launch, the retailer intends to open approximately 75 additional stores through 2026. The Tennessee-based retailer also plans to open its first physical Overstock store location in Nashville, with about 30 additional stores to open after the initial launch. These plans align with Kirkland's broader goal to be a multi-brand retail operator. 'By consolidating real estate and leveraging underperforming store closures to reduce excess inventory, we believe we will drive faster inventory turn and maximize return on assets,' the retailer said in a press release. 'Following the consolidation, we expect to move forward with approximately 290 of our current store locations as the foundational footprint for Kirkland's Home, Bed Bath & Beyond Home, and Overstock.' Fast Company contacted the brand to request a list of locations that will close. We will update this story if we receive a reply. Kirkland's Home rebrand reflects a broader transformation Kirkland's corporate name will officially change to The Brand House Collective pending shareholder approval at the company's next annual meeting on July 24, 2025. Its ticker symbol will also change from 'KIRK' to 'TBHC,' pending approval next month. Kirkland's CEO, Amy Sullivan, explained the intention behind the rebrand in the company news release: 'We're aligning our identity with our vision to become a multi-brand merchandising, supply chain and retail operator—and backing it with decisive actions to strengthen our foundation: reducing excess inventory, closing underperforming locations, optimizing real estate assets, and enhancing talent across the organization.' Amy Sullivan will lead as the CEO and chief merchant and creative officer of The Brand House Collective. The company announced the following additions to its corporate team: Chief Operating Officer Jamie Schisler will oversee operations. VP General Merchandising Manager of Bed Bath & Beyond Home Kerri Dlugokinski will lead all merchandising efforts. VP of Supply Chain Courtenay Adolf is responsible for global sourcing, transportation, and distribution centers. The retailer also announced changes to its board of directors. Effective June 24, 2025, appointees Eric Schwartzman, Neely Tamminga, Tamara Ward, and Steve Woodward will serve as board members. In October 2024, Kirkland's announced a strategic partnership with Beyond, Inc., which owns brands Bed Bath & Beyond, Overstock, and buybuy Baby.

Yahoo

31 minutes ago

• Yahoo

Crude Prices Pressured on Reduced Concern About an Imminent US Strike on Iran

July WTI crude oil (CLN25) today is down -0.26 (-0.35%), and July RBOB gasoline (RBN25) is up +0.0057 (+0.25%). Crude oil and gasoline prices today are mixed, with gasoline posting a 10-1/4 month high. Today's weaker dollar is bullish for energy prices. Also, concern about the Israel-Iran conflict is bullish for crude after Bloomberg reported Thursday that US officials are preparing for a possible strike on Iran. SoftBank's Masayoshi Son Unveils $1 Trillion AI Hub Proposal for U.S. to Rival China Crude Prices Pressured on Reduced Concern About an Imminent US Strike on Iran Our exclusive Barchart Brief newsletter is your FREE midday guide to what's moving stocks, sectors, and investor sentiment - delivered right when you need the info most. Subscribe today! However, crude prices were undercut after President Trump said he would wait two weeks to give diplomacy a chance before deciding if the US should attack Iran. Crude prices were also pressured on signs that Iran is ready to negotiate after Reuters reported that the Iranian government is ready to discuss limitations on uranium enrichment. So far, Iran has not impeded ship movement through the vital Strait of Hormuz, which handles about 20% of the world's daily crude shipments. However, a French naval liaison group stated that navigational signals from over 1,000 vessels a day moving through the Strait had been disrupted due to "extreme jamming" of signals from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, which led to a collision of two tankers on Tuesday near the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices continue to be undercut by tariff concerns after President Trump said last Wednesday that he intends to send letters to dozens of US trading partners within one to two weeks, setting unilateral tariffs ahead of the July 9 deadline that came with his 90-day pause. A decline in crude oil held worldwide on tankers is bullish for oil prices. Vortexa reported Monday that crude oil stored on tankers that have been stationary for at least seven days fell by -7.2% w/w to 73.97 million bbl in the week ended June 13. Concern about a global oil glut is negative for crude prices. On May 31, OPEC+ agreed to a 411,000 bpd crude production hike for July after raising output by the same amount for June. Saudi Arabia has signaled that additional similar-sized increases in crude output could follow, which is viewed as a strategy to reduce oil prices and punish overproducing OPEC+ members, such as Kazakhstan and Iraq. OPEC+ is boosting output to reverse the 2-year-long production cut, gradually restoring a total of 2.2 million bpd of production. OPEC+ had previously planned to restore production between January and late 2025, but now that production cut won't be fully restored until September 2026. OPEC May crude production rose +200,000 bpd to 27.54 million bpd. Wednesday's EIA report showed that (1) US crude oil inventories as of June 13 were -10.2% below the seasonal 5-year average, (2) gasoline inventories were -1.8% below the seasonal 5-year average, and (3) distillate inventories were -16.7% below the 5-year seasonal average. US crude oil production in the week ending June 14 was unchanged w/w at 13.431 million bpd, modestly below the record high of 13.631 million bpd from the week of December 6. Baker Hughes reported last Friday that active US oil rigs in the week ending June 13 fell by -3 to a 3-3/4 year low of 439 rigs. Over the past 2-1/2 years, the number of US oil rigs has fallen from the 5-1/4 year high of 627 rigs posted in December 2022. On the date of publication, Rich Asplund did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on 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

Wall Street Journal

33 minutes ago

• Wall Street Journal

Health Insurers to Promise Changes to Preapproval Process That Drew Backlash

Following the backlash that hit health insurers after the killing of a top executive last year, the industry will pledge steps meant to smooth the controversial preapproval process that can deny or delay access to care. The initiative is set to be unveiled early next week, according to people familiar with the matter.