Tipsheet: Wmart Pulls Account from MediaVest | Rona Tops | Ecom +15% in Jan.
Walmart Pulls Its North American Account From MediaVest by Noreen O’Leary at Adweek. “A Walmart rep confirmed the split…She declined to share further details about what is happening to the business…According to Starcom MediaVest Group, the agency staffs 95 people on its Walmart team. They are primarily based in New York, with two in Chicago, one in California and one in North Carolina.” Read more
Ecommerce sales pick up strongly after Christmas, with 15% growth in January by Chloe Rigby at Internet Retailing. “That’s more than double the 7% boost recorded last January and suggests, says the IMRG, that the Black Friday effect of a lingering post-Christmas slump was not repeated this year.” Read more
Wal-Mart de Mexico Net Profit Falls, Comp Sales Up via Dow Jones Business News. “Same-store sales in Mexico grew 8.6% from a year before, and in Central America they were up 4.6% in local currencies. The turnaround at Sam’s Club membership stores continued into the fourth quarter, as same-store sales grew 7% from a year earlier.” Read more
Inside Canada’s first Saks Fifth Avenue store: Valentino, private jewelry rooms, a Pusateri food hall and more by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post. “Saks Fifth Avenue is opening its first two Canadian stores this month with the launch of its downtown Toronto flagship on Thursday and later at Sherway Gardens on Feb. 25.” See the pics/video/read more
Q&A with Roundy’s CEO Bob Mariano at New Metro Market in Milwaukee by Sean Ryan at Milwaukee Business Journal. “The Metro Market, which opened its doors to the public for the first time Tuesday morning, brings several new features…There’s an oyster bar, which Mariano said is among his favorite additions, wood-fired pizza, a 12-hour smoked BBQ, kettle corn and gelato.” Read the Q&A | See the 30 pics
Cabela’s earnings report could come with clues about company’s future by Paige Yowell at World-Herald. “It’s very rare that they would say nothing,” said Damien Park, managing partner at Hedge Fund Solutions in Philadelphia, which advises companies and investors on shareholder activism.” Read more
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Amazon’s Clothing Line Is Definitely Happening by Cameron Wolf at Racked. “WWD notes that a job posting for a senior sourcing manager went out late last week. The job description says Amazon is looking for “an entrepreneurial, analytical and highly motivated [senior] sourcing manager to join our team to launch new high-quality products for our global customers,” according to WWD.” Read more
WSJ: Men Are Shopping Like Women by Ray A. Smith. “A recent report from the Boutique @ Ogilvy, the retail and fashion division of marketing agency Ogilvy, says men are increasingly opinionated about what’s in their closet, with 94% of American men saying they have a “defined” sense of personal style.” Read more (subscription)
Ex-P&G Exec Joins BJ’s Board “BJ’s Wholesale Club announced today that Robert Steele will be joining BJ’s Board of Directors, effective March 24, 2016.” Read the release
Rona Inc tops estimates in potentially last report as Canadian-controlled retailer by Damon Van Der Linde at Financial Post. “…it had a net income of $21.2 million or 20 cents per share in the 13 weeks ended Dec. 27, compared to $17.3 million or 15 cents per share a year earlier. Rona also boasted its sixth consecutive quarterly increase in same-store sales.” Read more
Groupon rises from the dead as Alibaba buys stake by Paul R. La Monica at CNN Money. “Alibaba disclosed in an SEC filing…that it acquired nearly 33 million shares of Groupon in the fourth quarter. That works out to about a 5.6% stake. This makes Alibaba the fourth-largest owner of Groupon. Shares of Groupon soared more than 40% in midday trading.” Read more
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS – Representatives from Walmart and Sam’s Club will participate in a panel discussion (Feb. 29th) as to how their science, technology, engineering, or math degree has assisted them in the work they currently do. See the details
Barneys New York Returns to Downtown Manhattan With New Flagship Store “The opening in Chelsea on 7th Avenue between 16th Street and 17th Street marks the return of the store to the same block that the company was founded on in 1923.” See the pics / Read the release
Wal-Mart stumbles hard in Brazil by Brad Haynes & Nathan Layne at Reuters. “It was never clear who Maxxi was for. It wasn’t cheap enough for the poor. But there was no appeal for the middle class,” said Ordecy Gossler, 40, a public accountant filling his cart with cleaning supplies and toilet paper at Atacadão, a rival chain run by France’s Carrefour. “When they announced in December that both Maxxis were closing, no one in my office knew where they were.” Read more
Online grocery prices are 25% higher than offline prices by Kurt Peters at Internet Retailer. “Shoppers pay the highest premium at Netgrocer, where prices are 42% higher than average…Groceries at Amazon.com are 18% lower than average…Target 9% lower and Wal-Mart 19% lower.” Read more
Weis Markets Q3 Comp Sales +4.0% Read the release
Minimum Wage Hikes Aren’t All Bad News for Wal-Mart by Shannon Pettypiece at Bloomberg. “Those companies are well placed to attract some of the extra money in American pockets. While wage growth has generally been lackluster since the financial crisis, in the five months through January hourly earnings rose at an average annual pace of about 2.5 percent. That’s the best run since 2009.” Read more
Google Acknowledges It Collects Student Information, but Doesn’t Target Ads by Dawn Chmielewski at Recode. “Google says it uses the personal information it collects solely to provide its educational services. The schools are responsible for obtaining a parent’s consent and determining whether students have access to services such as Google Search, Earth, Maps or YouTube.” Read more
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