Tipsheet: Target HR Chief to Alibaba | Victoria’s Secret CEO Resigns | Hoverboards In-Store in April
Target HR chief Jodee Kozlak heads to Alibaba; retailer promotes Stephanie Lundquist by Evan Ramstad at Star-Tribune. “Stephanie has played a critical leadership role in Target’s transformation efforts, developing and initiating the human resources strategies necessary to drive long-term growth for Target,” Cornell said. “She’s been a leading voice as we push ourselves to think differently and work in new ways across Target.” Read more
Why Do So Many People Go Crazy for Wegmans? by Robert Klara at Adweek. “Wegmans feels like a European food hall—and you understand that the people who are selling you the food are passionate about it,” observes global food trend expert Christine Couvelier, founder of Culinary Concierge. “Customers know more about food than ever before, so smart retailers like Wegmans put the right people in the right roles. They involve you in it.” Read more
Whole Foods Works to Reduce Costs and Boost Clout With Suppliers by Ilan Brat at Wall Street Journal. “Whole Foods is shifting more responsibility for buying packaged foods, detergents and other nonperishable items for the more than 430 stores to its Austin, Texas, headquarters.” Read more (subscription)
Carrie Underwood Incognito as Sales Person at Dick’s Sporting Goods via The Big 98. “Looks like she may have missed her calling. “I can TOTALLY work here.” See the video
eBay Bests Amazon and Etsy in Sellers Choice Awards by Ina & David Steiner at EcommerceBytes. “eBay took first place in this year’s Sellers Choice for the first time in the seven-year history of the awards. While winning by a scant .02 points, what set eBay atop the field this year was a clear advantage it had over the other marketplaces in Profitability.” See the Rankings / Read more
**A message from ASD Market Week – ASD has the widest variety of goods anywhere! On February 28 – March 2, 2016, we open the doors of the Las Vegas Convention Center to 45,000+ attendees looking to shop the world’s widest variety of wholesale lifestyle accessories and general merchandise at the lowest price points available. Discover hot new products and stylish finds from over 2,600 vendors in categories including: fashion & accessories, beauty & fragrance, gift & home, toys & novelties and many more. Learn more about ASD / See category list | See the show floor video | Register now
The CEO of Victoria’s Secret resigns by Matt Linder at Internet Retailer. “Sharon Jester Turney on Friday resigned as CEO of Victoria’s Secret, calling it a personal decision…Succeeding her will be Leslie Wexner, current chairman and CEO of L Brands.” Read more
Macy’s Terry Lundgren “Not Talking About Business” at Dress Collection Show by Sharon Edelson at WWD. “Prior to the show, Martine Reardon, chief marketing officer at Macy’s, the presenting sponsor of Go Red for the third year in a row, said the retailer is focusing its incubator program in San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia. The designs are “going into stores in some ways,” she said, adding that participants have free reign “to design whatever they want.” Read more
Aldi will open 80 new stores across the UK creating 5000 jobs via Mirror. “The German-owned company currently employs around 28,000 workers in more than 600 stores.” Read more
Want to buy one of everything on Amazon? This guy figured out what it would cost by Kurt Schlosser at GeekWire. “He says it would cost $12.86 billion. Eng writes that, according to export-x.com, there were 488 million items available on Amazon.com in 2015. He estimated the average price of an item is $26.86, with an uncertainty (standard error of the mean) of $6.03.” Read more
What’s next in Kroger’s shopping spree? by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati Enquirer. “If Kroger were to go hunting for smaller chains that could meaningfully boost market share in specific markets, it would likely be interested in operators such as: Stater Bros. Markets…Ingles Markets…or Fiesta Mart…” Read more
PopSugar Wants to Become the Mobile Shopping Cart for Fashion by Mike Shields at Wall Street Journal. “Essentially, ShopStyle wants to evolve from serving a role akin to Kayak—which helps people find deals across multiple airline websites—to that of iTunes, but for apparel. To facilitate this evolution, PopSugar Inc. purchased the mobile shopping technology firm Cosmic Cart in November.” Read more (subscription)
Tipsheet Extra Stories
Walmart and Toys ‘R’ Us to Sell Hoverboards in Stores as Soon as April
North Texas: Nebraska Furniture was supposed to run small furniture stores away but they are thriving one year later
Death-Metal Rocker Believes Lost Vest Ended Up in Macy’s Display 3 Years Later
Walmart Central America COO Welcomes Team to Nicaragua
H-E-B grocery has added two more land parcels in Tarrant County