Tipsheet: Costco Delays Amex Switch | Target & Gender-Neutral | Goodwill Beats Sears
Costco delays credit-card switch by Janet I. Tu at Seattle Times. “The original contract with Amex ends March 31 this year but “our plan is to extend that” by a few months until the Citigroup deal kicks in, said Richard Galanti…The timing of the transition is “fluid,” Galanti said. “It’s between Amex and Citi — negotiating and completing the agreements to do that transition.” Read more
Target takes gender-neutral approach with new kids home brand by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “It was an aisle of pink, fairy princesses, ponies and flowers,” Julie Guggemos, Target’s senior vice president of design and product development said of Target’s current offerings for children’s bedrooms. “And for the boys it was rockets and dinosaurs. Well, you know what? Girls like rockets and basketball. And boys like ponies. “Who are we to say what a child’s individual expression is? We really wanted to develop a collection that would be universal.” Read more
USA TODAY RANKS SUPER BOWL COMMERCIALS – Amazon Echo #14 See the 63 spots ranked
Sears Ranks Below Goodwill Among Women Shoppers by Phil Wahba at Fortune. “According to a January survey of 3,917 American women by Prosper Analytics & Insights, Sears is the preferred apparel store of only 1% of female shoppers.” See the top 13 retailers ranked
First look at Amazon’s Treasure Truck: Getting a deal from Jeff Bezos’ ‘four-wheeled joy machine’ by Kevin Lisota at GeekWire. “The Treasure Truck itself felt like a carnival hawker, with colorful marquee-style signs, LED message boards and a display case for today’s treasure. Rotating at the top of the truck was a bright yellow sign saying “Hello Seattle”, along with some salmon spinning on a wheel in front of a bubble machine, of all things. The Treasure Truck even has its own name: Scout.” See the pics / Read more
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CHICAGOLAND – Jewel-Osco president: ‘We’re here to battle for the customer’ by Greg Trotter at Chicago Tribune. “We’re basic operators. We keep it pretty simple. We work hard every day at just running better stores. That may sound overly simple, but there’s a lot of work that goes into that.” Read the Q&A
JCP HQ Sale: “It’s going to be the most sought after development opportunity in North Texas this year” by Steve Brown at Dallas Morning News. Read more
Ingles Q1 Comp Sales (ex-gas) +2.3% Read the release
Hasbro’s 4Q Revenue Rises 12.8% at Fox Business. “Hasbro reported its biggest jump in quarterly revenue in nearly five years, beating analysts’ estimates by a wide margin, driven by demand for toys based on the “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Jurassic World” movies.” Read more
Amazon Releases the Top 20 Most Romantic U.S. Cities See the top 20 list
Google set to open Kirkland campus expansion with ‘human-sized nest’ and ‘hideaway caves’ by Taylor Soper at GeekWire. “The tech giant will officially open its Kirkland campus expansion…Tuesday…The land formerly housed a chemical mixing and packaging plant and Google completed two environmental cleanups to remove contamination at the property.” Read more
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