. >> oliver chen joins us to talking about retail determination and what he's expecting from big names tomorrow. he's the senior retail analyst at cowan and company. nice to have you here. >> thank you for having me. >> bob pisani kind of set the stage, and it does sound like it's going to be a pretty difficult quarter for many of the retailers. what are you going to be watching for? >> yeah, there is a transformation and a revolution happening in retail. there are three main problems. firstly, physical store traffic. physical store traffic is declining anywhere from 5 to 6%. secondly, the rise of online and amazon. keep in mind about 80% of america shops at amazon. and there's over 50 million prime members. and thirdly, the consumer transformation taking place. consumers basically have stores in their phones. so they have stores in their pockets. that's really changed a lot of behavior. what i'm looking for is really more information on the reality of store closures. at cowan and company, we think as many as 20% of companies need to close their stores. there's too many malls in americ

for more, let's bring in oliver chen from cowen and the president of sw retail advisers. as a beat better than feared but we're still talking about negative same-store sales. traffic. and declining overall revenues. how deeptss was this -- decent was this quarter for target? >> thanks for having me, sara. good morning. so the comps were down 1.3. that's beat relative to negative 3 in what we were looking for, better than feared and the gross margins were better. negative 40 basis points, we were looking for a deeper cut in gross margins but you're right. there are many challenges ahead. most critically store traffic. a few key points on target. firstly, that expect more pay less line we're also familiar with customers are not really realizing target has such great value. so they're not coming to the stores. secondly, every day essentials such as getting your essential food item, household items, customers are skipping the trip. thirdly, supply chain. it's a lot about improving the supply chaining, improving customer satisfaction. those are big topics and we can't deny the

oliver chen was asked on the earnings call how they're staying away from the amazon effect.ded 1 million people in first quarter to the loyalty program. they have got 25 million. they give away free birthday gifts. this one, david, was the big lash mascara. lashes are very in right now. >> okay. >> one of the beauty products that's driving this tremendous growth in this beautiful stock chart. >> absolutely. what i know i know from cramer who has obviously spoken about it quite often. the selfie craze being part of it. people want to know their best at all times. >> he knows selfies, i know lashes. >> yes. >> buckingham saying trying to imagine 35 times and beyond was difficult and there was a discussion about gross margin weakness. but again, ulta with the beat on both the top and the bottom line. guiding a tad below consensus. costco comp's up five. 140 beats by nine cents and more discussion about the business models that are not amazonable. of course the ever present discussion of the annuity business that is their membership fee. >> they had very strong sales out of the

olive garden. ( band playing ) ( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: hey, everybody. welcome back to the show. my first guest is the emmy award-winning host of "the talk" and the face of "big brother." please welcome julie chen>> that was nice. >> stephen: yeah. that's a lovely dress. >> thank you! it's funny, i someone what i was wearing. and i realized when you describe this dress, it sounds terrible. i said, "it's like--" i said, "okay, it's like black. it's kind of which i fony, picture a moth, like mothy, and i silver and goldula may all over it. and i realized it sounds leak a disaster. when you don't see it and hear it. >> stephen: it's iridescent spring flowers falling over a midnight sky. ( applause ) >> no, not-- you took the words right out of my mouth. >> stephen: come on. hey, it's not like we hang out or anything, but we did hang out a little over a month ago at the lincoln center-- what was it called "the american songbook thing?" >> yes, they were honoring my husband. >> stephen: les moonves. >> runs this great company, and, of course, all the great stars on cbs came out. it was