Executive Summary

• This week’s note “From the Desk of Deborah Weinswig” discusses what U.S. Census Bureau data and company reports tell us about the holiday retail season.
• Walmart’s holiday sales blew past expectations: Sales at U.S. stores open at least a year grew 4.2% and U.S. digital sales grew 43% over the holiday stretch compared with last year.
• Germany’s Metro has given its Makro Belgium cash-and-carry business a capital injection of €40 million ($45 million) along with a warning that the business may face closure if it does not improve in 2019.
• QL Resources, which operates the FamilyMart chain of Japanese convenience stores in Malaysia, is proceeding with plans to launch 300 new stores by March 2022, despite a slowdown in Malaysia’s economy.