Today In Retail: CarLotz Gets Green Light From Its Investors For Merger; PriceSmart’s Net Merchandise Sales Climb 7.7 Pct

In today’s top retail news, CarLotz, Inc. says it has received the necessary approval from its investors to complete a potential merger with a blank-check company, while PriceSmart, Inc. reported a 7.7 percent rise in net merchandise sales from Q1 fiscal 2020 to Q1 fiscal 2021. Plus, Family Video said this week that its closing all of its physical retail locations.

CarLotz Gets Go-Ahead From Its Shareholders For Merger With SPAC

CarLotz, Inc. announced on Friday (Jan. 8) that it has garnered the required go-ahead from its investors, including a supermajority of its minority stockholders, to complete a proposed merger with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Acamar Partners Acquisition Corp. Other conditions still have to be met in order for the proposed deal to close.

PriceSmart Net Merchandise Sales Rise 7.7 Pct

PriceSmart, Inc., the warehouse club company, reported as part of its Q1 fiscal 2021 operating results that net merchandise sales rose by 7.7 percent to $838.4 million from $778.7 million in Q1 fiscal year 2020. The company owns and operates membership shopping warehouses in Latin America, as well as the Caribbean, that are in the style of those in the United States.

Last Major US Video Rental Chain Is Closing All Brick-And-Mortar Stores

Family Video, which runs approximately 200 stores in 17 U.S. states, said this week that it’s shuttering all of its brick-and-mortar stores after four decades in operation. Family Video opened its first retail location in the late 1970s. It had approximately 800 locations and 10,000 staffers at its apex.

Whole Paycheck: Amazon And Walmart Use Drones, Self-Driving Trucks And 767s to Beat Each Other At Delivery

Winning the battle for the shoppers’ whole paycheck necessitates winning the battle for delivery. Walmart and Amazon are putting everything from drones to driverless trucks into that. In one case, Walmart received the local zoning green light from Pea Ridge, Arkansas to begin harnessing its local store as a drone launch-and-delivery center.