"Home Depot's Hurricane Prep Workshops in Full Swing"  by Angela Chen at WSJ.  " Home Depot has added hurricane-preparation workshops in places like Staten Island, N.Y., and the New Jersey shore to help people understand basic issues like how to choose the right generator, says Tony Lemma, Home Depot's regional vice president for the New York metro area..."Since we've had Irene and Sandy, we've found that things have changed. So, in the past two years we've ramped up the focus around being prepared, and seen attendance at these workshops go up," Mr. Lemma says."  Read more   "@Walmart Labs' Tim [...]

  "Office Depot Q2 Sales Down 4%"  "The North American Retail Division reported second quarter 2013 sales of $939 million, a decrease of 5% compared to the prior year.  Comparable store sales in the 1,077 stores that have been open for more than one year decreased 4% for the second quarter of 2013."  Read more   "eBay CEO John Donahoe on the Importance of Design" by Mike Isaac at All Things D.  "This world of social commerce hasn’t really exploded yet. And I think it’s going to develop differently from mobile, across categories and segments. You can bring eBay listings [...]

  "Saks Fifth Avenue bought by Lord & Taylor owner: sources" by James Covert at NY Post.  "The swanky luxury chain has struck a deal to be acquired by Hudson’s Bay, the Canadian department-store chain that owns Lord & Taylor, sources told The Post.  The deal is expected to be announced as soon as today.  “It’s a done deal — Baker has won his prize,” said one source briefed on the negotiations, referring to Hudson’s Bay chairman Richard Baker, a savvy New York real-estate tycoon said to have coveted Saks even before scooping up Lord & Taylor in 2006."  Read [...]

  "Target Purchases 9 acres @ 6 million for its First Custom Canadian Store" by Barrie Advance at Simcoe County.  "Target has purchased just over nine acres for $6 million at Park Place for its first custom Canadian store.  The deal closed July 12, and construction will begin in September..."This is the first piece of land they've bought in Canada and this will be the first store built from the ground up," said Coughlin."  Read more   "Walmart Basket 2.4% Cheaper Than at Target" by Kim Souza at City Wire.  "The overall branded basket was 2.4% less expensive at Wal-Mart [...]

  "The Wal-Mart Slayer: How Publix's People-First Culture Is Winning The Grocer War" by Brian Solomon at Forbes.  "Family-run Publix is both the largest employee-owned company and the most profitable grocer in America. Those two facts are linked, and they might be the formula for fending off Bentonville’s retail behemoth."  Read more   "Target’s Online Video Campaign to Turn College Kids into Lifelong Paying Customers" by Brad Tuttle at Time.  "The stakes are higher for retailers trying to connect specifically to the back-to-college crowd. These retailers aren’t just trying to sell some merchandise in the short term. They’re hoping to [...]

  "Wal-Mart plans to be an online juggernaut" by Brian O'Keefe at Fortune.  "To align the interests of its retail foot soldiers with Neil Ashe (CEO Global Ecommerce) and his crew, the company has created a system in which managers at all 4,000 Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. get credit for all sales in their zip codes, whether on- or offline. "That creates 1.4 million advocates for the holistic shopping experience," said Ashe."  Read more & see the video:  https://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/07/23/wal-mart-plans-to-be-an-online-juggernaut/?iid=SF_F_River   "Wal-Mart's plan to beat Amazon" at Fortune.  "At Fortune's Brainstorm Tech conference, Wal-Mart Global E-commerce CEO Neil Ashe discusses [...]

  "Walmart Opens 4th College Campus Store at Univ. of Missouri"  by Joe Clougher at The Maneater.  "Since 2011, Walmart on Campus has expanded to Georgia Tech and Arizona State from its origins at the University of Arkansas, just 20 miles from the retail giant’s corporate headquarters...“Really, this is a convenience for the students,” she said. “It will stock basic groceries, health and beauty items and general merchandise all at Walmart’s everyday low prices.”  Hatfield confirmed that the campus store will feature a full pharmacy as well as check cashing services. And unlike most local retailers, she said, it offers [...]

  "Amazon Beats Pinterest In Fight Over .Pin Domain" by Matt McGee at Marketing Land.  "Amazon has beaten Pinterest in a battle over .pin, one of the many new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) that are in the process of joining existing domains like .com, .net and .org.  In a decision issued this week, a World Intellectual Property Organization mediator rejected Pinterest’s objection to Amazon’s application to own .pin."  Read more:  https://marketingland.com/amazon-beats-pinterest-in-fight-over-pin-domain-52277   "Digital Coupon Firm Retailmenot in Hot IPO" at WSJ. "RetailMeNot should be distinguished from Groupon, he said. "They help small companies give big discounts sporadically. We help big [...]