Costco

Weighing the revenue generated by subscriptions against the cost of shipping, Amazon.com has clearly lost money on Prime. And let's be honest: Prime isn't about the Kindle lending library or the on-demand videos; it's about the fast, "free" delivery. So it's no surprise that Amazon's recent announcement of a price increase for Prime was welcomed by investors, who foresee improved margins in the coming years. Retailers should treat the announcement as good news too. Why?

Atop the list of highest rated CEOs for 2014 is Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn with a 100 percent approval rating, and then Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg closes out the top 10 with 93 percent approval rating. There's been some movement since last year's, Top 6 Highest Rated Retail CEOs, with quite a few more retailers finding their way into the rankings, including J.Crew, eBay, Costco and Bath & Body Works. Interestingly, a

Sam's Club and Amazon.com deliver the best customer experience in the retail industry, according to the 2014 Temkin Experience Ratings, an annual ranking of companies based on a study of 10,000 U.S. consumers. Sam's Club and Amazon continue their reign as the highest-rated retailers for the third straight year, each earning an "excellent" rating. Sam's Club narrowly beat out Amazon for the top spot, receiving an 81 percent rating and an overall rank of eighth out of 268 companies across 19 industries. With ratings of 79 percent each, Costco, PetSmart, Ace Hardware and BJ's Wholesale Club also earned high marks.

The suburban, car-loving, McMansion-owning parents of millennials represent Costco's core customer base. But what about millennials themselves? As far as retail success stories go, few can compete with Costco's run in recent years. In surveys, customers routinely weigh in on how much they love the Costco shopping experience, and the company's unique business model is celebrated in TV documentaries and glowing magazine profiles alike. But the fact that in early March Costco reported lower-than-expected earnings and its stock price has slumped now has some wondering if the company can stay on its hot growth streak going forward.

Sears Canada is laying off 624 employees, the second time in as many weeks the struggling retailer has announced cost-saving cuts to its workforce. The company, whose sales have fallen for the last seven fiscal years in a battle with stronger rivals like Wal-Mart, Costco and Winners, said late Wednesday that the layoffs will lead to more effective communication between management and its store associate teams. The cuts result in an average reduction of five associates per store from a mid-tier level, the retailer said. 

On Wednesday morning, just hours after he wrapped up the State of the Union speech, President Obama will pay a visit to a Costco in Lanham, Maryland. There, he's likely to reinforce messages about raising the minimum wage and income inequality. It will hardly be the first time this administration has held up the discount behemoth as a model of corporate success. In his speech on the economy back in July, Obama hailed Costco as a company that "pays good wages and offers good benefits," proving "that this isn't just good for their business, it's good for America." 

Costco Wholesale has tentatively agreed to pay $8 million and change its promotion procedures to settle a long-running lawsuit that alleges it failed to give female employees an equal shot at management jobs. In the proposed settlement, the Issaquah, Wash.-based retailer agreed to establish an $8 million fund to compensate women in the lawsuit, which received class-action status in 2007. It also will overhaul its promotion procedures and tools. The company will also create a posting process for assistant general manager promotions, and a system to register interest in promotions to general manager roles.

Calling Dollar General's wages "shamefully low," political activist Ralph Nader has urged CEO Richard Dreiling to support raising the minimum wage. In a letter dated Dec. 8, Nader argued that raising the minimum wage would aid the economy and boost revenues at the Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based discount retailer through increased consumer spending and lower employee turnover. He urged Dreiling to join Costco CEO Craig Jelinek in advocating for a national minimum wage increase to $10.10 an hour.

The holiday shopping pandemonium has commenced. With the holiday shopping season six days shorter this year than last year, retailers have made the decision to open on Thanksgiving night and provide early Black Friday shopping. Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target and others are trying to make the most of the holiday season. However, The Huffington Post Reports…

Using Stores.org's list of top U.S. retailers, Econsultancy has compiled a graph showing the top U.S. retail brands on social media. "No surprise to see Wal-Mart far out in front, with worldwide revenue of $467,896,000 in 2012, more than four times as much as nearest competitor Costco ($97,062,000). Some of this comes from regional brands…