Tipsheet: GameStop Open Tgiving | Costco Wine Test | Saks Heat | Joly’s Monks
GameStop Stores Will Stay Open This Thanksgiving, Breaking a Three-Year Policy by Joseph Hincks at Fortune. “The video game retailer announced the changes in a conference call Monday, gaming website Kotaku reports, citing two company staff who joined the call.” Read more
COSTCO KIRKLAND WINE TASTE TEST – Critic: “In general, they’re drinkable but pretty simple and a bit dull.” by Elin McCoy at Bloomberg. Read more
Amazon is launching a home improvement show using YouTube stars to sell stuff by Monica Nickelsburg at GeekWire. “Overhaul” debuts in September in a special hub on Amazon.com, according to Business Insider. The first two episodes will feature YouTube baking star Rosanna Pansino and beauty blogger Teni Panosian.” Read more
Lumber Liquidators’ Stock Soars After Surprise Profit And Sales Beat by Tomi Kilgore at Fox Business. “Revenue rose to $263.5 million from $238.1 million, above the FactSet consensus of $256.9 million, as same-store sales growth of 8.8% beat expectations of a 6.0% rise.” Read more
One of the most popular mattress makers on Amazon is building an Amazon-powered store by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “We’ve had a lot of internal debate about this since the beginning: The approach to resist Amazon as a force and see how we can go head-to-head against it,” said Daehee Park, Tuft & Needle’s co-founder. “But where we’re at right now, we’ve decided why not just embrace them. It is the future of retail and e-commerce.” Read more
Limited Too makes its return in N.Y.C. via pop-up shops by Anthony Noto at New York Business Journal. “New Yorkers can spot the tiny versions of the shops selling tween back-to-school products from mobile trucks parked outside of big-name retailers, including Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s.” Read more
Activist investor turns up heat on owner of Saks Fifth Avenue by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “Land & Buildings fired off its second letter in six weeks to the board of Hudson’s Bay on Monday, threatening to remove board members if the department store company doesn’t sell some of its prized real estate.” Read more
Dilllard’s stores worth more than its business: hedge fund by Carleton English at NY Post. “Dillard’s is essentially an unleveraged real estate company that is masquerading as a low productivity retailer,” Jeffrey Pierce, managing partner of Snow Park, said in a statement Monday.” Read more
**A message from Fabe – The Italian hand-crafted pillow that prevents neck and back pain. Fabe’s Ergo Praxis pillow supports and aligns the head and neck to prevent cervical pain. Created in cooperation with Ludes University in Switzerland – it gets the body in the right position for a good night’s sleep. 100% Made in Italy. Details | Fabe Website | Retailers request samples at info@shiftmarketinggroup.net. Italy-America Chamber
Under Armour shares fall; retailer to restructure, trimming its sales outlook for 2017 by Lauren Thomas at CNBC. “Under Armour said it closed 33 factory outlets and 23 Under Armour-branded stores over the course of the 12 months ended June 30.” Read more
Study: 26.8% plan to buy back-to-school items this year. Of this group, 37.0% say they will begin their online search for back-to-school items on Amazon by April Berthene at Internet Retailer. Read more
Etsy’s Painful Lesson: It’s a Retailer, Not a Tech Startup by Khadeeja Safdar at Wall Street Journal. “Everything felt like an experiment on Etsy,” she said. “I realized I could make better use of my time figuring out my own analytics rather than figuring out Etsy’s algorithms.” Read more (subs.)
…Etsy appoints Mike Fisher as Chief Technology Officer Press release
US executives have Amazon on their minds more than Trump or wages at Bloomberg via Internet Retailer. “Looking at the last 90 days of earnings calls and other corporate events such as investor days, a trend emerges. Amazon comes up a lot. It was mentioned a staggering 635 times over that time frame, while President Donald Trump came up just 162 times and wages were discussed 111, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.” Read more
The first Harveys Supermarket to open in Tampa feels a lot like the Winn-Dixie it was before by Justine Griffin at Tampa Bay Times. “Southeastern Grocers…is converting seven Winn-Dixie stores in Florida into Harveys Supermarkets in an effort to expand the Harveys brand in the state. All seven stores, which are mainly in the Central Florida region, will open in their communities on Wednesday morning.” Read more
Amazon, Stitch Fix already rank among the top online apparel sellers by Lauren Thomas at CNBC. “While only 15 percent of consumers surveyed by (NPD) said they have ordered apparel subscription boxes, 14 percent of shoppers who have not ordered them said they plan to…Amazon is planning to roll out an apparel subscription service of its own, called Prime Wardrobe.” Read more
Best Buy’s Hubert Joly drew on leadership principles shaped by his work as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. and by philosophical and spiritual work he did with monks at the Congregation of St. John by Marilyn Much at Investor’s Business Daily. Read more
Amazon 3rd-Party Vendors May Waive Prior State Sales Taxes by Vidya Kauri at Law 360. “A committee within the Multistate Tax Commission, an intergovernmental tax agency, on Monday adopted a time-limited program that will allow Amazon.com Inc.’s third-party sellers to have prior state sales and use tax liabilities waived if they agree to collect and remit those taxes going forward.” Read more (subs.)
Supermarkets Face a Growing Problem: Too Much Space by Heather Haddon & Julie Jargon at Wall Street Journal. “A massive build-out by retailers has left the country piled up with grocery shelves as consumers are shifting from big weekly shopping trips to more snacking and to-go meals. The mismatch has flattened retail sales and leaves the industry vulnerable to a wave of closures that some executives, bankers and industry experts think is coming soon.” Read more (subs.)
Tipsheet Extra Stories
You’ll soon be able to buy alcohol, weed and maybe guns from a vending machine
‘Dog the Bounty Hunter’ sues Chris Christie
Target didn’t leave NASCAR because of Kyle Larson
Bloomberg: The Secret Economic Lives of Animals
Study: 70% of consumers said they prefer to return online orders to physical stores
Canadian Tire worker who threw out Indigenous man no longer an employee
***
Eye on Retail Tipsheet is must-read material for 20,000+ retail execs every weekday morning. Tipsheet stories are carefully curated bright and early every morning to ensure fresh and unique content.
Subscribe to Eye on Retail Tipsheet here
Contact us: Send story tips, press releases and advertising inquiries to info@eyeonretail.net
Website: www.eyeonretail.net