Aisles & Alpha - May Store Check Takeaways from 50+ Tri-State Area Visits...

Research evidence excerpt

Aisles & Alpha - May Store Check Takeaways from 50+ Tri-State Area Visits...

Broadlines & Hardlines

Auto Parts Retail - Market Weight

Dollar Stores - Market Overweight

Home Improvement - Market Overweight

Mass Merchants - Market Weight

Aisles & Alpha - May Store Check Takeaways from 50+ June 2, 2026

Tri-State Area Visits...

The Wolfe Byte

We walked through stores across the Tri-State area to get a sense of the latest trends after the last couple weeks

of retail earnings left investors and operators uncertain about underlying trends (1Q Retail Earnings Takeaways).

May sales trends were choppy and the exit rate this month was impacted by weather (again). That being said,

our coverage is increasingly driven by idiosyncratic stories that is creating a lot of opportunities. Target's (+) store

resets are in their early stages, but we have impressed so far, with stronger apparel merchandising in particular.

Back to School performance is always important, but will be even more crucial in '26 to see if these resets actually

work. WMT (=) in-store execution remained top-tier, but rollbacks are moving higher (+20% in 1Q), and we expect

them to get more competitive in response to Kroger and other grocers investing in price. DLTR's (=/-) execution

is improving in some locations, but there is still a big variance across the fleet. Summer seasonal assortment was

mixed, and there continues to be customer concerns about price. At DG (=/-) we see pretty steady execution, but

we are watching price investments and soft remodel lifts. FIVE (=/-) momentum remains best-in-class, and the

merchandise is strong for the summer, but trends will likely slow into the 2H. LOW & HD (=/-) saw weak traffic

over MDW weekend due to rainy conditions, which was compounded by heavy labor to support sales.