Today’s Tipsheet: Target Price-Matches Costco/Sam’s | Costco -1.0% | Dick’s CMO Promoted | Wmart: 9 Steps to 4
Costco Q4 Comp Sales -1.0% “Comp sales for Q4 excluding the negative impacts from gasoline price deflation and foreign exchange were +6%” Read the release
Target expands price-matching policy to 29 rivals by Kavita Kumar at Star Tribune. “The updated policy, which goes into effect Thursday, includes giants like Macys.com and Staples.com as well as a number of online-only retailers such as Diapers.com, Drugstore.com, Newegg.com, and Wayfair.com. In addition, Target will for the first time begin matching online prices with warehouse clubs, such as Costco and Sam’s Club.” Read more
Wal-Mart tweaks store rules for better in-stocks by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “Mark Ibbotson, senior vice president for the Walmart U.S. Central Division…spoke to a group of suppliers in Bentonville in Tuesday…He said the retailer reduced the steps in its in-store supply chain…down from 9 steps to just 4. Also, the retailer began to move away from the Telxon which is used in-store to check inventory levels and adopted the MC40, which is more like a smart phone and much faster technology.” Read more
YouTube’s new shopping ads target e-commerce dollars by Julia Boorstin at CNBC. “The new Shopping ads will appear in the top right corner of a video. A click pulls down images and pricinig of products in the video, another takes consumers to the retailer’s website. Advertisers only pay when a user clicks on the ad to go to that site.” Read more
2015 Forbes 400 (Jeff Bezos #4, Jim Walton #9, John Menard Jr. #49…) See the full list
Ex-Meijer/Sam’s Club Exec named Academy Sports new President & CEO by Olivia Pulsinelli at Houston Business Journal. “Effective Nov. 2, James Kevin “J.K.” Symancyk will take over the role from Rodney Faldyn, who announced his departure in June.” Read more
Ralph Lauren to Step Down as CEO, Hand Reins to Gap’s Larsson by Lindsey Rupp at Bloomberg. Read more
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Dick’s CMO promoted by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Dick’s Sporting Goods has promoted Lauren Hobart to executive vice president/chief marketing officer and Chelsea Collective general manager. Ms. Hobart, who has been with the company since 2011, had been senior vice president/chief marketing officer.” Story link
Amazon expands 1-hour delivery to U.K. by Sam Tonkin at Daily Mail. “(Amazon will) offer a range of 50-60 products to customers in London and Birmingham through its ultra-fast Prime Now service, which allows items to be ordered for delivery within an hour.” Read more
Home Depot Presents 2015 Innovation Awards “TTI Homelite / Echo won the retailer’s 2015 Innovation Award for its Echo 58-volt line of outdoor power equipment…Runner-up honors were awarded to Wink, Inc. for its Smart Home Hub and American Standard for its Optum VorMax Tall Height Elongated Toilet.” See the top 10 product innovations
Top 100 CPG Brands Mostly Lost Sales and Share in Past Year by Jack Neff at Ad Age.”Catalina found sales for the top 100 brands collectively declined 0.8% to $56.8 billion, even as overall sales tracked by Catalina increased 6% for the year ended June 30.” Read more
Peek inside San Jose’s new Bass Pro Shops by Nathan Donato-Weinstein at Silicon Valley Business Journal. “…it will throw open the doors to its new San Jose store, at 5160 Cherry Ave. in the Almaden Ranch shopping center, at 6 p.m. on Oct. 28, with a flurry of special events planned.” See the 18 pics / Read more
Menards to build $29 million facility in Missouri, hire over 120 by Diana Barr at St. Louis Business Journal. “Menard Inc. plans to invest $29.1 million into a new manufacturing and distribution facility in Sullivan, Missouri, creating 129 new jobs.” Read more
Walmart & Whole Foods Targeted for Produce Waste by Marissa Piazzola at Fox Business. “Over 100,000 people have become supporters of the online petition, including Chef Mario Batali and other notable figures in the food industry. The campaign has received national media coverage including on The Dr. Oz Show.” Read more
Hudson’s Bay cuts 265 head office jobs in bid to trim costs by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail. Read more
Tipsheet Extra
Michelle Obama Talks About Going To Target After Moving Out Of White House
NBC 4: Safeway Worker Hurls Mangoes in Attempt to Stop Tide Thief
Why Jeff Bezos and others are betting on fusion
Twitter Plans to Go Beyond Its 140-Character Limit
State Fair’s best hams auctioned for $4,200 each (Ex-Tractor Supply Chairman/CEO keynotes)
Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet is created early every weekday morning and read by retail merchants and executives worldwide. We love data, earnings reports, executive presentations and stories off the beaten path that get at what’s really happening in the world of retail. See our website at www.eyeonretail.net