Tipsheet: D.Tree New CEO | WM New HQ | Wgreen New R.Aid Deal | Morris Unveils WOW
Walgreens Said to Tweak Rite Aid Deal to Gain U.S. Approval by David McLaughlin & Robert Langreth at Bloomberg. “The companies and the FTC are close to an agreement that would allow the deal to proceed, said the people, who declined to discuss details of the revised transaction. The number of stores involved in the latest iteration won’t change dramatically, one of the people said.” Read more
Dollar Tree names Gary Philbin as new CEO at Reuters. “Philbin, 60, joined Dollar Tree as senior vice president of stores in 2001 and was named chief operating officer six years later. He was appointed enterprise president earlier this year with responsibilities for both the Dollar Tree and Family Dollar chains of stores.” Read more
Amazon Is Testing One-Hour Delivery at London Fashion Week by Hallie Detrick at Bloomberg. “Amazon has partnered with the designer Nicola Formichetti to get London Fashion Week’s styles to Londoners’ doorsteps within an hour. The partnership is the latest iteration of the “see now, buy now” strategy, which designers have been experimenting with over the last several seasons.” Read more
Lowe’s Chief HR Officer named to key Charlotte Chamber role by Rick Rothacker at Charlotte Observer. “The Charlotte Chamber said Friday that Jennifer Weber, chief human resources officer at home improvement retailer Lowe’s Cos., will serve as chamber chair in 2020.” Read more
Wal-Mart Stores announces plans for new headquarters in Bentonville by Paul Gatling at Talk Business. “The project will be built in phases, and Hargrove said the company anticipates construction will take between 5 to 7 years. He said there are no immediate plans for a groundbreaking…The new corporate campus will be built on the east side of Southeast J Street, bordered by Arkansas Highway 102 to the south and Arkansas Highway 72 (Central Avenue) to the north.” Read more
Toys ‘R’ Us preparing for possible bankruptcy filing, sources say via CNBC. “A loan of several hundred million dollars as part of any possible bankruptcy filing would reassure the chain’s vendors it could pay them for the loads of stuffed animals, action figures and dolls it needs to stock its shelves for the holiday season, the people said.” Read more
Amazon finds an ally at the Federal Trade Commission by Josh Kosman at NY Post. “Interim FTC Chair Maureen Ohlhausen, speaking last week at a Georgetown Law School conference, said the agency should not be “interventionist” when monitoring the digital economy…“She’s saying it is not our role to say a company is becoming too big, but only to examine them if they are misusing their monopolistic power,” a DC lawyer who knows Ohlhausen said.” Read more
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Bass Pro founder puts finishing touches on the 350,000-square-foot WOW aquarium by Wes Johnson at Springfield News-Leader. “The “bait-ball” tank is just one of more than 80 freshwater and saltwater aquariums, along with wildlife galleries filled with mounted animals from around the world, that bring the great outdoors indoors for people to see…More than nine years in the making, the new WOW opens to the public Friday.” 60 pics/Read more
Canada Goose Bypasses Saks With Sales Pitch for the Amazon World by Kristine Owram at Bloomberg. “For every 5 percent mix shift to direct-to-consumer, Canada Goose gains 120 basis points of margin, estimated BMO analyst John Morris. A direct-to-consumer jacket sale provides two to four times more operating income than a sale of the same product through a wholesaler, according to Canada Goose’s annual report.” Read more
Amazon is skewing the whole country’s retail sales data and is likely behind last month’s drop by Patti Domm at CNBC. “One possible, at least logical, explanation is that the 1.8 percent rise in July non-store retail sales was boosted by the July 11 Amazon Prime Day, so the apparent ensuing weakness is a return to a more normal sales activity post the Prime Day sales,” wrote Ward McCarthy, chief financial economist at Jefferies.” Read more
Target teams up with Kaiser to open 31 more in-store clinics in SoCal by Katharine Grayson at Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal. “Target and the Oakland, California-based health care provider started a pilot test in 2014 that called for Kaiser employees to staff four retail clinics in Southern California.” Read more
HAPPY CHICKENS? – Good Luck Finding a Truly Organic Egg by Deena Shanker at Bloomberg. “Things that mean one thing to one consumer might mean something else to another,” said Jordan Rost, vice president of consumer insights at Nielsen. “Organic” may conjure images of sun-dappled fields with chickens ambling amid the daisies, when in fact it means an excrement-stained cement apron next to an air vent.” Read more
ROTTING BEEF? Steak Aging Goes Beyond Weeks to Months for Some Chefs by Charles Passy at Wall Street Journal. “Many chefs say the strong taste is a turnoff for most diners, especially when the beef has been aged for an extra-long time. “It’s like blue cheese on a bone,” says Michael Lomonaco, chef and owner of Porter House Bar and Grill, a steakhouse in Midtown Manhattan’s Time Warner Center.” Read more (subs.)
Obama Goes From White House to Wall Street in Less Than One Year by Max Abelson at Bloomberg. “Barack Obama spoke in New York to clients of Northern Trust Corp. for about $400,000, a person familiar with his appearance said. Last week, he reminisced about the White House for Carlyle Group LP, one of the world’s biggest private equity firms, according to two people who were there. Next week, he’ll give a keynote speech at investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald LP’s health-care conference.” Read more
Weird Food for Sale in Venezuela But Nothing That Anyone Wants by Fabiola Zerpa at Bloomberg. “Why no canillas? Because its price, unlike for all those other loaves, is controlled by the government. And it is set at such a low level — 1,500 bolivars versus the 4,500 to 7,500 a gallego commands — that bakers complain it doesn’t come close to covering their costs. So they use new-found supplies of wheat in the country to bake every other kind of bread imaginable.” Read more
Tipsheet Extra Stories
Pecan Pies, Exports at Risk After Irma Knocked Down Trees
Bill de Blasio, fierce Walmart critic, has been curiously quiet about Amazon’s NYC warehouse
More than 400 customers line up as Whole Foods opens in Amherst
Hillary Clinton Book-Signing Draws More Than 1,000 To Costco Store
A first look inside Under Armour’s new Portland office
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