Wednesday’s Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet: Home Depot & Hurricanes | Bentonville’s ‘Silicon Valley’ | Scents Trigger $

 

“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 Kimmet talks what’s in store for mobile shoppers” by Jason Ankeny at Fierce Developer.  “We definitely see customers trending to mobile. More than 50 percent of Walmart customers have smartphones, and mobile is driving more than 40 percent of Walmart.com seasonal traffic. So mobile devices and new experiences will become really key for Walmart to meet its goals.”  See the full interview

 

“Bentonville, AR is to Professional Retail what Silicon Valley is to Tech” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “Lazenby said the local concentration of talent in professional retail is similar to what Silicon Valley has in the tech world…Not too long ago there were few marketing experts to be found in the immediate region. But about three years ago large suppliers such as ConAgra, began to look for experts with true-brand experience and these marketers were added to the Wal-Mart teams. “This gave the local job market a boost because these were new jobs across a number of large suppliers,” Lazenby added. “The role du jour these days is the shopper marketing position, at least that’s what I am hearing.”  Read more

 

“Neiman-Marcus Wanted Saks” at My Retail Media.   “According to sources, Neiman Marcus Group had been working with private equity firm KKR & Co., after putting in a second bid for the Manhattan-based department store.  It’s thought although Neiman Marcus gave a compelling offer, the deal stalled when it became clear a government antitrust investigation of a Neiman’s-Saks combination would delay a deal for months and burden both retailers with a huge amount of administrative complications required by the government.”  Read more

 

“India Said to Consider Easing Rules Luring Wal-Mart to Tesco” at Businessweek.  “The cabinet will consider amendments on rules covering sourcing, infrastructure investment, and store locations, according to the two officials, who asked not to be named as they aren’t authorized to speak to the media.  The government is loosening rules to attract global chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Tesco Plc. to its supermarket industry. While the nation changed laws in September to allow foreign retailers to own majority stakes in stores selling multiple brands, no overseas companies have sought such licenses as yet.”  Read more

 

“Retailer for women cancer survivors to open second location” by Tristan Navera at Dayton Business Journal.  “The store specializes in clothes for women who have had a lumpectomy or a mastectomy, and sells undergarments, head wear, breast prosthesis among other items…These products are usually covered by insurance, including Medicare or Medicaid…“We want this facility to be more elegant, and very inviting,” said Cheryl Griffen, executive director, “We’ll be able to display more products in the new showroom.”  Read more

 

“Parents Favor Major Brands Online” by Gavin O’Malley at Online Media Daily.  “Parents appear to be doing the majority of their online back-to-school shopping with brick-and-mortar brands, according to Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at EMS. “Brick-and-mortar stores are getting the majority of search traffic to date,” said Tancer.”  Read more

 

“Smell of Money: Boosting Sales Through Customers’ Senses” at Hiper Kinetic.  “Scents trigger purchasing emotions. In his novel “Remembrance of Things Past”, French author Marcel Proust was the first to explicitly link smell and memory. He wrote of the emotional power of smell in the form of madeleine cakes and their ability to call up images of childhood. Similar principle applies to shoppers. While customers are in store, scent helps to create the right emotional mood and ambience, lowering the psychological buying barrier.”  Read more

 

“Tractor Supply: Growth Story + Amazon-Resistant” by Amy Merrick at Y Charts.  “Tractor Supply is relatively immune to Amazon, according to research by William Blair & Co. analysts. While Amazon continues to expand its selection, it doesn’t stock the majority of Tractor Supply’s merchandise. A sampling of Tractor Supply items by William Blair found that Amazon carried 42% of them, up from 33% in a year-earlier survey. But only 25% of those items are eligible for Prime shipping, limiting the Amazon advantage.”  Read more

 

“Good Eggs Beats Walmart, Amazon, to New Orleans Grocery Ecommerce” by David Utter at EcommerceBytes.  “The Times-Picayune noted how ecommerce grocer Good Eggs has expanded from its California and New York markets to open Good Eggs New Orleans. Simone Reggie, cited in the article, said the Good Eggs company “wanted a more mixed income city,” leading them to start their third location in the Big Easy.”  Read more

 

“Why Amazon Is Happy Breaking Even With Online Grocery” by Tom Ryan at Forbes.  ““Our interviews with AmazonFresh insiders suggest that Amazon’s internal target for expansion was break-even, and that it’s motivation for investment is more strategic than profit driven,” wrote Logan Gallogly, research analyst.”  Read more

 

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Tuesday’s Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet: Office Depot Comps Off 4% | Retail Mobile Payment Growth

 

“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 to your Facebook, Pinterest collections, onto Twitter. And focusing on buying that item within one click.  Creating discovery environments within the eBay ecosystem. Again, the feed.”  Read more

 

“How the Publicis-Omnicom deal started as a joke” by Patricia Sellers at Fortune.  “It was January, and the two titans of the ad business were chatting on Publicis’ rooftop terrace, overlooking the Arc de Triomphe, when Wren said: “This is priceless.” “Not so much,” Levy replied. “It can be yours.” “It was just a joke,” Levy recalled in an interview with Fortune. “I had nothing in mind.” “We laughed a little,” Wren says, “but it was not forgotten.” Read more

 

“Paying with Your Phone is Becoming More Popular at Retail, Especially at Starbucks” by Addy Dugdale at Fortune.  “An interesting tidbit was buried in last week’s financial results from Starbucks: Mobile phone payments in the firm’s coffee shops have crossed the 10% threshold. Good news for Starbucks’s chief digital officer Adam Brotman, whose next initiative, the wireless charging mat, hits Silicon Valley shops next month.”  Read more

 

“PayPal’s ‘Future is  Now’ Video Series” by Ben Myers at DX 3 Digest via Retail Prophet.  “One of the more intriguing ideas presented in the video is the Kate Spade Saturday street-side store, which gives window shoppers a large touch screen to interact with and select from a limited number of items, which can be shipped to their home in an hour. This digital-retail interaction gives customers the ability to buy with a low-pressure, browsing experience and the store maintains low cost for its tiny storefront and few employees.”  See the Video 

 

“How Digital Coupons Can Fit Into Your Local Media Campaign” by Linda Thomas at Local Media Methods.  “With the increase in smartphone penetration, people who use digital coupons will increasingly tend to be users of mobile coupons as well. According to the report it is estimated that “nearly half of US adults who use digital coupons will use the mobile variety by the end of this year…According to an iMedia Connection article, there are 5 key components to a successful mobile coupon campaign.”  Read more

 

“Publix Responds to Shoppers in Real-Time” by Julie Galagher at Supermarket News.  “Supermarkets sprung to action after Boston Mayor Thomas Menino’s now-famous missive to Rolling Stone went viral earlier this month.  Julie GallagherOne by one, Stop & Shop, Roche Bros., Big Y, Wegmans, Roundy’s, Hy-Vee and others deemed the iconic magazine’s choice of cover boy Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev egregious enough to bar its sale.  But for Publix Super Markets, the decision wasn’t as cut and dried, as shoppers from both camps took to its heavily trafficked Facebook page to debate the issue.”  Read More

 

“OfficeMax and Office Depot On Track for $400-$600 Million in Merger Synergies”  “Advertising and Marketing: The companies estimate savings in the range of $70-$100 million from advertising and marketing efficiencies. A substantial amount of these savings are expected to result from reducing duplicative efforts in weekly inserts, media and catalogs.  Selling, General & Administrative: An estimated $130-$200 million in savings is expected to result from overall selling, general and administrative cost efficiencies.”  Read more

 

“Coke and Pepsi Now Have the Same Ad Agency” by Edmund Lee and Kristin Schweizer at Bloomberg.   “Publicis Groupe SA merger with Omnicom Group Inc. won’t just create the world’s largest advertising company: it will mean longtime rivals such as Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. are sharing the same firm…The business will have $23 billion in sales and bring together a large stable of global clients, putting it in the position of crafting campaigns that criticize its own customers. While that situation is already increasingly common in the ad world, the deal is putting a spotlight on the potential conflicts of interest that come with a consolidated market.”  Read more

 

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Monday’s Eye-on-Retail Tipsheet: Hudson’s Bay Acquires Saks | Publicis-Omnicom Merger | Wmart Canada Expansion

 

“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 more

 

 “Kroger Rumored Bidder for A&P Grocery Chain” by Steve Watkins at Cincinnati Business Journal.  “The Journal cited a person familiar with the matter in reporting that Kroger is one potential bidder. However, Kroger CFO Michael Schlotman had said on a July 9 conference call discussing the Harris Teeter deal that the size of that acquisition could make it tough for Kroger (NYSE: KR) to do any other sizable deals in the next six months.”  Read more

 

Walmart makes push in Atlantic Canada” at Truro Daily News.  “The massive, 13,500-square-metre store is one of nine supercentres planned for the region and one of 37 projects (in Canada) that will involve expansion, remodelling or relocating existing stores across the country at a cost of $450 million. Walmart will spend about $90 million on the Atlantic expansion in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, adding 300 positions.”  Read more

 

“Omnicom, Publicis to combine into biggest ad firm” by Thomas Adamson at AP.  “If the Omnicom-Publicis combination goes through, the combined company would account for nearly 40 percent of the U.S. ad industry, twice as much as the nearest competitor, WPP, according to Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research Group in New York.  Wieser said Sunday the deal came as a surprise to many in the industry. Omnicom, he said, has “always been viewed as too large to get any larger.”  The combined company will have more than 130,000 employees.”  Read more

 

“Is The Publicis-Omnicom Merger A Sign Of Strength Or Weakness?” by Avi Dan at Forbes.  “The answer is not mergers. The answer for the advertising industry is to change its model and the way it prices its product. Agencies give away their highest value product – their strategic thinking – for free and try to make a profit off implementation work. However, implementation is often a commodity. It reduces the client-agency relationship to a mere transactional level, of buyer and vendor.” Read more

 

“With Obama Visit on Tap, Amazon Announces 5,000 New Jobs” by Jason Del Ray at All Things D.  “The hiring will occur both at current and new fulfillment centers, as Amazon expands its AmazonFresh grocery delivery business and competes with eBay and others to bring same-day delivery to the masses.”  Read more

 

“Walmart Halts India-Specific Lobbying In U.S.” at Indolink.  “Walmart and many other overseas supermarket chains have been wanting to set shop for many years in India, which opened up this business for foreign players last year with a 51 per cent equity cap despite stiff political opposition.  Still, there are many restrictions, such as those on sourcing of products that are keeping foreign multi-brand retailers away from the country.”  Read more

 

“Your next meal may come compliments of Amazon” by Jane Wells at CNBC.  “CNBC tested the service, ordering about $40 worth of groceries to be delivered the following morning between 7 and 8. The bright-green AmazonFresh food truck arrived at 7:51, and the delivery person, Raul Ruiz, said it was his 14th stop so far that day.  “I am extremely busy,” he said.  Wal-Mart has tested grocery deliveries in the Bay Area since 2010 but has yet to expand it.”  Read more

 

“Who’s afraid of Walmart? – As a new Toronto Walmart looms, Kensington Market is divided between fear and admiration.” by Eric Andrew-Gee at Toronto Star.  “Zimmerman’s is a grudging acceptance — his attitude amounts to an existential shrug. “This is the way of the world,” he said. “The big are getting bigger and the small are having to reinvent the wheel.”Ossie Pavao, the owner of Kensington café and spice depot Casa Acoreana, is a lot more sanguine about the potential new neighbour.”  Read more

 

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Friday’s Tipsheet: Target’s 1st Custom Store in Can. | Wmart’s 2.4% Cheaper than Target

 

“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 versus Target in the June study. The gaps narrowed from a 3.7% spread in January of this year, an indication that Target is willing to discount when and where necessary to be competitive.  Kantar found that Wal-Mart used just one price rollback in the six month period, while Target used 10 temporary price cuts in the period.”  Read more

 

“Walgreen gets a modern makeover” by Geoff Colvin at Businessweek.  “We have a tremendous opportunity to differentiate ourselves and step out of the traditional drugstore format and create something completely new and unique. In the past we were a pharmacy with a front end that was convenience goods. We don’t want to lose that. We’re on the best corners of America for that reason. But we can move from just convenience to more health, daily living, and beauty.”  Read more

 

“CVS Caremark will help promote Obamacare” by Kyle Cheney at Politico.  “CVS officials told POLITICO that they’re planning to use pharmacies at their 7,400 North American stores as a gateway for the uninsured to learn about new coverage options — especially subsidized insurance coverage available to low-income people on state-based insurance exchanges.”  Read more

 

“Wal-Mart Family Bankrolls a Lender That Targets Hispanics” by Renee Dudley at Businessweek.  “With Progress Financial, which lends under the brand Progreso Financiero, the family that controls Wal-Mart can put money into the hands of an important group of customers, if only indirectly, through a network of more than 80 branches. The branches make loans of as much as $3,500, and most are located a short drive from a Walmart.”  Read more

 

“Walmart’s Economic and Customer Insights Report for Q1 2013”  “89% of adults indicate they are involved in more household “conservation activities” than three years ago in an effort to save on household spending. Top activities shoppers claim engagement in:  Cooking at home (56%), Using coupons for everyday purchases (48%) and Seeking out lower priced food items (46%). The spirit of thriftiness has led consumers to rely increasingly on used items, and has created a booming aftermarket for secondary-use products in the last few years.”  Read more

 

Street View:  “Amazon.com Slips Back Into The Red With $7M Q2 Loss” by Abram Brown at Forbes.  “CEO Jeff Bezos, true to his focus on building his company rather than making money, offered no specific reason why Amazon.com struggled in the quarter. What is clear is that the company continues to exist with paper-thin margins. Amazon.com’s operating margin of net sales was a tiny 0.5%.”  Read more

 

Company View:  “Amazon.com Announces Second Quarter Sales up 22% to $15.70 Billion”  Net sales increased 22% to $15.70 billion in the second quarter, compared with $12.83 billion in second quarter 2012. Excluding the $392 million unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales grew 25% compared with second quarter 2012.”  Read more

 

“New survey says Wal-Mart lags the grocery pack” by Kim Souza at City Wire.  “Trader Joe’s Market, which operates 400 stores across the U.S., received the highest marks among those surveyed, with a 90% approval. Whole Foods Market, Publix and Aldi also scored high in the 80% range. Wal-Mart scored the lowest ranking among those surveyed at roughly 35%, while Sam’s Club fared better at 65%.”  Read more

 

“Cabela’s building on gun sale gains by leveraging data” at CNBC.  “29 percent of sales at the company are made using its Cabela’s credit card, which is issued by a company-owned bank called The World’s Foremost Bank and accounts for 10 percent of revenues. Competitors like Dick’s Sporting Goods and Target, by comparison, do not own their own banks.  “This is by far the easiest and best loyalty rewards program that I’ve ever seen,” Anderson said, noting that customers do not need rebates or face other restrictions on purchases.”  Read more

 

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Today’s Headlines: Publix Fights Wmart | Tractor Supply +16% | Obama Loves Costco

 

“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 create bonds that’ll keep these consumers as fans of the brand for decades to come.”  Read more

 

“Cruising The Aisles For The Next Grocery Deal” by John Dobosz at Forbes. “With Harris Teeter now paired with Kroger, another Tar Heel State supermarket chain looks like it could be in play: Ingles Markets, which operates 204 stores–about the same size as Harris Teeter–in the Southeast. Others that might attract suitors include Weis Markets and Village in the Northeast, and Roundy’s, a popular regional chain in Minnesota and Wisconsin.”  Read more

 

“No-frills foodstore Aldi is expanding” by Patt Johnson at Des Moines Register.  “Overall, Aldi is looking to add up to 80 stores per year in the United States, including a new market, California…“Over the last five years we’ve developed our product offerings. Aldi used to be viewed as a stock-up store where you’d buy a lot of canned goods that were mostly brands you didn’t recognize,” he said. “It’s changed a lot. In the last 10 years we’ve doubled our product range from 700 items to 1,400.”  Read more

 

“Target builds mobile momentum via in-store promotions, video” by Lauren Johnson at Mobile Commerce Daily.  “Target rolled out in-store signage last weekend to promote its iPhone and Android app. The calls-to-action are placed throughout the store, including in checkout lanes and on aisle end caps.  The first set of store signage features a photo of a smartphone and encourages consumers who are looking for help in-store to download the app.”  Read more

 

“Tractor Supply 2nd-Quarter Profit Rises 16%” by Anna Prior at WSJ.  “The company also raised the low end of its same-store sales forecast for the year, now expecting growth of 4% to 5% compared with prior expectations for an increase of 3% to 5%.”  Read more

 

“Presidential Praise for Costco and the Container Store” by Maria Halkias at Dallas News.  “Here the President’s direct quote:  “We’ll need our businesses, the best in the world, to pressure Congress to invest in our future, and set an example by providing decent wages and salaries to their own employees. And I’ll highlight the ones that do just that – companies like Costco, which pays good wages and offers good benefits; or the Container Store, which prides itself on training its workers and on employee satisfaction.”  Read more

 

“OfficeMax CFO departs to take same post at Supervalu” by Dhanya  Skariachan at Reuters.  “”We believe the departure of Mr. Besanko could create some confusion and distraction for OfficeMax at a time when the company is undergoing a planning process for the pending merger with Office Depot and is in the midst of its busiest selling season,” Citi analyst Kate McShane wrote in a note to clients.”  Read more

 

“Walmart and Whole Foods at Top of ‘EPA’s Green Power’ list” by Christina DesMarais at Green Biz.  “More than 1,400 groups, including Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, government entities as well as colleges and universities, have joined the EPA’s Green Power partnership.”  Read more

 

“Are Kmart’s Playfully ‘Offensive’ Ads Losing their Punch?” by Mark Miller at Brand Channel.  “Its latest campaign, aimed at a younger demographic, according to InvestorPlace, features a culturally-diverse bunch of kids telling “Yo Mama” jokes to one another, though the jokes all are about how cool the clothes are and how awesome “yo mama” must be for buying them at Kmart: “Yo mama get that hoodie at Kmart?” “Yeah, dawg.” “Well, yo mama must have cavities, ‘cuz that hoodie is sweeeeeeeet!” And so on.”  See the ad

 

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Wednesday’s Tipsheet: Home Depot’s $300K PAC Spend | Walmart’s Plan to Beat Amazon

 

“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 what the retail giant is doing to compete with Amazon in the online shopping space.”  See the video: https://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2013/07/23/t-bst-walmart-amazon-prime.fortune/index.html?iid=SF_F_River

 

“A Third Of U.S. Shoppers Showroom, Buy From Online Retailers While In Stores” by Mark Walsh at Media Post.  “Worse yet for traditional retailers, the study showed arch nemesis Amazon is the main way that people choose to compare prices; it was twice as popular as Google for that purpose. A price difference of as little as $5 on a $50 item can tip the balance in Amazon’s favor. Furthermore, nearly half (46%) of survey participants were Amazon Prime members, with special perks and free shipping.”  Read more:  https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/205154/third-of-us-shoppers-showroom-buy-from-online-r.html#axzz2ZxihCvAr

 

“Home Depot’s PAC Gives Nearly $300K to Support Internet Tax Bill” by Jana Kasperkevic at Inc.  “In the weeks since the Senate passed the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would let states force online retailers to collect sales tax, the behind-the-scenes action has been heating up…Home Depot’s PAC, which gave just $77,500 in donations during last year’s presidential election cycle, donated $296,500 to campaigns and leaderships in June alone.”  Read more:  https://www.inc.com/jana-kasperkevic/retailer-pacs-increase-lobbying-internet-sales-tax.html

 

“Best Buy bets big on ‘store-within-a-store’ concept” by Thomas Lee at Star-Tribune via Seattle Times.  “Analysts like to say Samsung and Microsoft stores will bring buzz to Best Buy, but whether that translates to additional sales throughout the store is far from clear.  Investors measure the value of a retailer in two ways: sales per square foot and customer traffic.  Best Buy generates a seemingly robust $852 per square foot, compared to $303 for Target and $140 for J.C. Penney. But fewer people are visiting Best Buy stores, which means that $852 figure is likely to continue to fall unless the company can somehow reverse that trend.”  Read more:  https://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2021450682_bestbuystoremallxml.html

 

“Walmart says cannot meet India’s local sourcing rules” at Fox News.  “Walmart has told India that it is unable to meet local sourcing requirements for foreign supermarket groups wanting to open stores in the country, a report said Wednesday.  Under rules introduced when the government opened up the sector in 2012, foreign supermarkets are required to buy 30 percent of their products from local small-scale industries.”  Read more: https://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/07/24/walmart-says-cannot-meet-india-local-sourcing-rules/#ixzz2ZxnxRTgS

 

“GNC Announces Opening of First Retail Store in China; 25 Planned Over Next 12 Months”  “GNC has been selling its Made in the USA products in China since 2011 when it opened its Shanghai-based office and distribution center. GNC currently has over 60 store within a store locations within 8 different major grocery, convenience and health and wellness chains in China, including Ole, City Super, Sam’s Club and Watson’s.”  Read more:  https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/update-gnc-announces-opening-of-first-retail-store-in-china-25-planned-over-next-12-months-216518321.html

 

“RadioShack Comps Positive in Q2 — First Positive Comp Since 2010”  “Looking ahead, we expect the turnaround to take several quarters, and during that time our results may vary from quarter to quarter as we make strategic changes to improve our long-term financial performance. We will be guided by the five pillars of our turnaround strategy – repositioning the brand, revamping our product assortment, reinvigorating our stores, operational efficiency and financial flexibility.”  Read more:  https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/radioshack-reports-financial-results-for-second-quarter-2013-including-second-quarter-comparable-store-sales-growth-of-13-216562751.html

 

“Why Retailers Don’t Know Who Sews Their Clothing” at WSJ.  “Retailers sometimes have little idea where some of their clothes are made. Many retailers don’t maintain the manpower in Dhaka or other garment hubs to regularly check on factories that are supposed to be making their clothes.  “An order could be produced in 20 different units and it comes to one place for final inspection,” says Zulficar Ali, executive director at the Bangladesh office of U.K.-based Synergies Worldwide, a buying house that works with manufacturers to fill orders for retailers.”  Read more:  https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324436104578579552855683948.html?mod=pls_whats_news_us_business_f

 

Thanks for reading…

 

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Tuesday’s Tipsheet: Wmart’s 4th Campus Store | Nash Finch/Spartan Merge | Ebay Expands Same-Day

 

“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 customers the ability to order products online for in-store pickup.”  Read more:  https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2013/7/22/wal-mart-set-open-campus-store-downtown/

 

“EBay expands same-day delivery in local battle with Amazon” by Alistair Barr at Reuters.  “EBay Now, which delivers products from stores including Target, Walgreen and Best Buy in as little as an hour, was launched last year in San Francisco and San Jose, California and Manhattan, New York.  EBay is expanding the service to Brooklyn and Queens in New York and to the Bay Area peninsula, between San Francisco and San Jose in coming weeks. Chicago and Dallas will be added later this summer and the service may expand outside the United States in the future, eBay executives said.”  Read more:  https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/22/ebay-local-idUSL1N0FO2CT20130722

 

“Inside Walmart Canada’s Multi-Channel Pub Strategy” by Susan Kuchinskas at ClickZ.  “The solution is a multi-channel consumer lifestyle publication, Walmart Live Better, that comprises a bimonthly print magazine, an iPad version, and a website with constantly refreshed content. The print publication is available free in stores, with a print run of one million – making this the largest circulation lifestyle magazine in Canada.  Already, Walmart has 80 percent penetration among its target consumers, according to Fanson.”  Read more:  https://www.clickz.com/clickz/news/2283708/inside-walmart-canadas-multichannel-pub-strategy

 

“Spartan Stores to buy Nash Finch in military store play” at Reuters.  “By teaming up with Nash Finch they get the military business plus a much wider footprint to grow both the distribution and the retail businesses,” Wolfe Trahan & Co analyst Scott Mushkin said.The deal will help expand Spartan’s distribution presence beyond Michigan, Indiana and Ohio to 37 states and the District of Columbia. It also makes Spartan the largest food distributor to U.S. military commissaries and exchanges at home and abroad.”  Read more:  https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/22/us-spartanstores-nashfinch-idUSBRE96L0T120130722

 

“Wayfair Reveals Its Strange Strategy: Sending Customers To Competitors” by J.J. Colao at Forbes.  “Despite its e-commerce prowess, 99% of Wayfair’s web visitors don’t buy anything…So the company concocted a novel plan: Why not show customers nearby home décor stores, then charge local brick-and-mortars for the lead?”  Read more:  https://www.forbes.com/sites/jjcolao/2013/07/22/e-commerce-giant-reveals-strange-strategy-sending-customers-to-competitors/

 

“Amazon denied .amazon domain” by Dustin Kurtz at Melville House.  “Their decision was no doubt influenced by a letter sent to ICANN by a group of South American nations including Brazil, Peru, Uruguay and Chile. The letter is quoted in the Times: ” ‘.amazon’ is a geographic name that represents important territories of some of our countries, which have relevant communities, with their own culture and identity directly connected with the name.”  Read more:  https://www.mhpbooks.com/amazon-denied-amazon-domain/

 

“RadioShack’s quarterly loss widens; CFO departs” at Reuters.  “Struggling U.S. electronics retailer RadioShack Corp on Tuesday reported a wider quarterly loss, announced the departure of its chief financial officer and said it expects a turnaround to take several quarters.”  Read more:  https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/23/radioshack-results-idUSL1N0FT0A020130723

 

“Kroger puts local growers on display at area stores” by Jon Chavez at The Blade.  “A total of 25 growers or food producers responsible for producing several products the chain sells in its stores will be represented at booths in the store’s parking lot or in the store.  “We have six of these events in our division, but our Waterville one is the biggest event,” Ms. Siekmann said.”  Read more:  https://www.toledoblade.com/Food/2013/07/23/Kroger-puts-local-growers-on-display-at-area-stores-Copy.html#8ymmb8cHehVLV960.99

 

“Small Businesses Shirk Advertising” by Jack Neff at Ad Age.  “The trend is away from ad spending. As recently as 2006, local advertisers spent more on advertising than promotion, according to Borrell Associates. But local advertising is up just 7% since bottoming out in 2010, reaching $93 billion in 2012, while local promotion increased 47% to $169 billion over that time. Promotion has exceeded advertising in each year since the recession started in 2007.”  Read more:  https://adage.com/article/digital/small-businesses-swap-paid-media-cheaper-digital-options/243213/

 

Thanks for reading…

 

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Today’s Tipsheet: Pinterest Loses .Pin Domain | Retailmenot Hot IPO | Rolex at Sears

 

“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 businesses give small discounts every day.” Cunningham said his company works with 90 of the top 100 Internet companies and offers a mobile product that highlights sales in physical stores using geolocation.” Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/id/100899516

 

“Sears Would Really Like to Sell You a $33,000 Rolex” at WSJ.  “In one of the more counterintuitive strategies in retailing today, Chairman and Chief Executive Edward Lampert has been pushing his beleaguered company to secure upscale offerings for the Marketplace section of its website, which features goods sold by third-party vendors…Sears’s Marketplace is now the third-largest online vendor market by number of visits, but it trails Amazon and eBay by a wide margin, according to comScore. In June, Amazon had 98 million unique visitors, eBay had 69 million and Sears had 18 million.”  Read more:  https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324263404578613751354714698.html?mod=pls_whats_news_us_business_f

 

“Canadian Retailing Comes of Age” at The Economist.  “To global retailers accustomed to merciless competition Canada is appealingly civilised. Unlike Americans and Europeans, Canadians have not been hammered by a housing bust. Fewer big grocery chains are fighting for market share than they are south of the border. Compared with the United States, Canada has about 60% of the retail floor space per consumer and profit margins are higher.”  Read more:  https://www.economist.com/news/business/21582020-merger-see-american-challenge-drug-deal

 

“Loblaw (Canada) looks beyond the battle to the war with Shoppers’ secret weapon” by Hollie Shaw at Financial Post.  “Walmart’s Achilles heel in Canada, much like in the U.S., has been getting itself into cities. It routinely faces loud opposition to its developments from anti-big-box community groups, even when it proposes smaller, out-of-the-box city store formats. “Loblaw’s strategy is brilliant because it proves it is not focused on each individual battle — it is focused on the war,” Mr. Smerdon said.”  Read more:  https://business.financialpost.com/2013/07/20/loblaw-looks-beyond-the-battle-to-the-war-with-shoppers-secret-weapon/

 

“Why China’s Appetite for American Brands is Getting Stronger” by Anita Change Beetie at Ad Age.  “Volvo, ThinkPad, AMC Theaters and, possibly soon, Smithfield Foods. All household names in the U.S., all with Chinese owners. And if the world’s two largest economies can strike an investment treaty — as is being discussed — many more could join them.”  Read more:  https://adage.com/article/global-news/china-s-appetite-american-brands-stronger/243187/

 

“Nearly 40% of shoppers ‘would not buy groceries from Amazon’ (in UK)” by Ben Bold at Marketing Magazine.  “Nearly 40% of UK shoppers would not buy groceries from Amazon, despite speculation that the group could launch its AmazonFresh online grocery business in the UK as early as next year, according to new research…It found that of all online retailers, Amazon was by far the most popular, with 91% of those surveyed using the service. The next most popular retail platform was eBay, used by 71% of shoppers”  Read more:  https://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1191936/nearly-40-shoppers-would-not-buy-groceries-amazon

 

“JCP, Closing in on New CMO, Courts Kraft’s Debra Berman” by Natalie Zmuda at Ad Age.  “The holidays will soon be here — and that spells trouble for JC Penney if it can’t quickly beef up its decimated marketing ranks.  The retailer plans to hire a marketing leader shortly, according to two executives close to the company. The top candidate: Debra Berman, VP-marketing and engagement at Kraft Foods Group.”  Read more:  https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/jc-penney-closing-cmo-courts-kraft-s-berman/243218/

 

“Disney’s Crazy Invention Lets You Feel Phantom Objects Floating In Air” by Mark Wilson at Fast Company.  “Aireal is the result of research by University of Illinois PhD student Rajinder Sodhi and Disney Reseach’s Ivan Poupyrev. When set by your television or connected to an iPad, this diminutive machine will puff air rings that allow you to actually feel objects and textures in midair–no special controllers or gloves required.”  Read more:  https://www.fastcodesign.com/1673054/disneys-crazy-invention-lets-you-feel-phantom-objects-floating-in-air?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fastcompany%2Fheadlines+%28Fast+Company%29#1

 

Thanks for reading…have a great week!

 

Follow on Twitter @retaileyeretail