Former Walmart U.S. CEO Says 'Panic Saturday' is Brick-and-Mortar's Time to Shine
*By Samantha Errico*
Christmas is on Tuesday, which means Panic Saturday is upon us. Dec. 22 is expected to be the second-busiest shopping day at stores this year, falling short in foot traffic only to Black Friday.
Bill Simon, the former CEO of Walmart U.S., told Cheddar Friday that brick-and-mortar retailers are about to have their moment, since "the online guys are done, they can't get it there in time now."
Retailers are gearing up for a serious surge in foot traffic on Super Saturday, which is expected to bring in [$26 billion](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/20/retailers-ready-for-a-surge-of-super-saturday-shoppers.html) ー beating out Black Friday sales by $2 billion.
"This is not for the faint of heart," Simon said.
Amid the holiday shopping frenzy, Simon's curiosity lies in the "battle of toys." Of the contenders, he acknowledged Amazon for achieving major success online and Target ($TGT) for thriving in-store this season.
Back in September, Simon [predicted](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/21/walmart-will-soon-hike-prices-due-to-tariffs-ex-walmart-us-ceo.html) that Walmart ($WMT) would have to hike its prices if the trade war escalated. He said Trump's tariffs won't impact holiday sales this year, but if a trade agreement isn't reached, "I think you can start to see an impact into next year and definitely for next Christmas."
Meanwhile, Walmart ($WMT) and Amazon ($AMZN) are battling to "figure out what the next generation of shopping is."
"With Amazon investing in physical assets and Walmart investing in digital assets, I would expect the stocks at some point to start looking like each other," Simon said.
Amazon recently bought grocer Whole Foods, expanding its brick-and-mortar footprint, and Walmart acquired e-commerce platform Jet in 2016 to conquer online sales.
"It's not purely digital like Amazon or purely physical like Walmart used to be, and who figures out that intersection fastest and best I think will win," Simon said.
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
