Archive for month: July, 2013

 

“Kroger to Buy Harris Teeter for $2.5 Billion in Cash” at CNBC.  “The price represents a premium of 33.7 percent to the Harris Teeter closing share price on Jan. 18, 2013, the day of the first media report that Harris Teeter was evaluating strategic alternatives.  Both boards have approved the buyout.  Harris Teeter has 212 stores in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, including Washington, D.C.”  Read more:  https://www.cnbc.com/id/100872312

 

“Wal-Mart: Unlocking value in a better corporate image” by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  “Wal-Mart recently linked its own corporate magazine Walmart World on its website for public view. This is the first time the internal magazine has been shared with mainstream media and available for public consumption.  “The more we introduce people to what we do and how we do it, the more they understand the positive difference we can make for customers, associates and communities,” Simon said.”  Read more:  https://www.thecitywire.com/node/28523#.UdvlDPnVDpU

 

“Earnings for Family Dollar Stores Expected to Fall” at Forbes.  “Analysts are expecting earnings per share of $1.03 after the company booked a profit of $1.06 a share a year earlier.  Over the past three months, the consensus estimate has fallen from $1.19. Analysts are expecting earnings of $3.77 per share for the fiscal year. Revenue is projected to be $2 billion for the quarter, 9% above the year-earlier total of $2 billion. For the year, revenue is expected to come in at $10 billion.”  Read more:  https://www.forbes.com/sites/narrativescience/2013/07/08/earnings-for-family-dollar-stores-fdo-expected-to-fall/

 

“Walmart claims it’s winning ad wars against Publix” at Tampa Bay Bus. Journal.  “The Tampa Tribune reported that in every market where the ads are running, Walmart has registered a 1 percent increase in combined foot traffic and cash register sales.”  Read more:  https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/blog/morning-edition/2013/07/walmart-claims-its-winning-ad-wars.html

 

“Kroger set to invest $110M, hire 2,000 in Michigan” by Michael Martinez at The Detroit News.  “Kroger is succeeding in an increasingly tough grocery market in Michigan, with competition from Grand Rapids-based Meijer Inc., which is opening two new stores in the state this year; Wal-Mart, which recently opened another store in Novi; and Target, which is adding groceries to nine Metro Detroit locations.”  Read more:  https://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130708/BIZ/307080066#ixzz2YXskISB7

 

“The Threat Of Amazon To Wal-Mart’s U.S. Operations Is Real, But Overplayed” at Seeking Alpha.  “The main distinguishing factor between a WMT Discount Store and a Supercenter is the availability of groceries. AMZN currently is piloting its Amazon Fresh grocery delivery concept in Seattle and Los Angeles. However, WMT’s footprint would allow it to corner this market in a much more efficient and cost effective manner than AMZN could. This is true both offline as well as online.”  Read more:  https://seekingalpha.com/article/1537392-the-threat-of-amazon-to-wal-mart-s-u-s-operations-is-real-but-overplayed?source=google_news

 

“Barnes & Noble Drops E-Commerce CEO for Eye-Shade Guy” by Brendan Greeley at Businessweek.  “The man taking over for Lynch, Michael Huseby, knows how to do a thing. That thing is not online retail. He was previously Barnes & Noble’s chief financial officer and he came to the book seller after working at Cablevision, Charter Communications, and AT&T. His expertise is in extracting rents, which is very different from excelling at selling things, online or otherwise.”  Read more:  https://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-08/barnes-and-noble-drops-e-commerce-ceo-for-eye-shade-guy#r=hp-ls

 

“Target joins Bangladesh worker safety group” by Thomas Lee at Star-Tribune.  “Target has been “actively engaged” with the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, spokeswoman Jessica Deede said. The alliance, led by Wal-Mart, Gap, and former senators George Mitchell and Olympia Snowe, will focus on improving working conditions in the impoverished Southeast Asian country.  The group will hold a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to discuss its proposals. Target and the alliance both declined to comment on specifics, but the group reportedly will announce a $50 million fund to help boost safety for garment workers in Bangladesh.”  Read more:  https://www.startribune.com/business/214648191.html

 

“Publix leases office space for Charlotte division” by Ely Portillo at Charlotte Observer.  “Florida-based Publix Super Markets continued its advance into North Carolina with the announcement Monday that the company has leased office space for its Charlotte division headquarters.  The company will lease 15,603 square feet of office space at Two Lakepointe Plaza, off West Tyvola Road near Renaissance Park.”  Read more:  https://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/07/08/4153974/publix-leases-office-space-for.html#storylink=cpy

 

“Why Twitter Finally Killed The “Auto Follow” For Good” by Sarah Perez at Techcrunch.  “The social network has finally taken steps to crack down on one of the tools often used by those attempting to game its service: the Auto Follow. In Twitter’s parlance, an auto follow refers to an immediate and programmatic means of following another user back after they follow you.”  Read more:  https://techcrunch.com/2013/07/08/why-twitter-finally-killed-the-auto-follow-for-good/

 

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“Target looks to hit pause on holiday partnerships” by Thomas Lee at Star-Tribune.  “While the Minneapolis-based retailer hasn’t completely ruled it out, creating an extensive line in time for December would be highly impractical, since Target normally needs a year or so to plan such an ambitious project.  “We have no current plans for a holiday design partnership,” spokeswoman Katie Boylan said.  Target’s decision not to deploy its most potent weapon for the most crucial sales period of the year follows its failed collaboration with Neiman Marcus last Christmas.”  Read more: https://www.startribune.com/business/214090631.html

 

“Walgreens Gets A Makeover As It Tries To Win Back Customers” by Kim Bhasin at HuffPo.  “The front of Walgreens stores will be changing “fairly dramatically” to promote health-related items over convenience products. That means a renewed focus on the pharmacy, immunizations, clinics, vitamins, beauty products, skincare and more, reflected both through the items offered in stores and the training of staff.”  Read more:  https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/01/walgreens-makeover-changes_n_3529984.html

 

“Eight Orchard Supply stores slated to close” at Silicon Valley Business Journal.  “Orchard Supply Hardware has announced the first stores to close as part of the San Jose-based retailer’s restructuring plan.”  See the list:  https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2013/07/02/here-are-the-first-eight-orchard.html

 

“Lowe’s and Walgreens to ‘Monetize Their Parking Lots’ ” by Sebastian Blanco at Auto Blog Green.  “There are currently 1,800 Hertz 24/7 locations with a total of 35,000 vehicles open around the world, and that number is expected to grow to 2,000 by the end of the year. This growth will come from adding stores like Lowes and Walgreens to the list. It’s appealing to retailers because they will be “able to monetize their parking lot. It’s almost a no-brainer. It’s part of our asset-light strategy, investing in technology and making the car, if you will, the bricks and mortar,” Hertz CEO Mark Frissora told Bloomberg.”  Read more:  https://green.autoblog.com/2013/06/28/hertz-247-carsharing-available-to-most-americans-by-2016/

 

“Will the Sharing Economy Destroy Brands?”  by Francine Hardaway at Fast Company.  “Altimeter, which has done really ground-breaking research into this new movement, proposes three possibilities for rethinking business models to contend with what’s coming. The first is called Company-as-Service.. The second, Motivating a Marketplace, involves getting out in front of the trend, and helping your customers buy your goods used and resell what they’ve finished using…And the third, Provide a Platform, is what sites like Etsy and eBay, newer brands, already do. They encourage customers to connect with each other.”  Read more:  https://www.fastcompany.com/3013681/leadership-now/will-the-sharing-economy-destroy-brands?utm_source=twitter

 

“Roundy’s — Reinventing the Grocery Store Experience at Fox Business”  “Roundy’s CEO Bob Mariano breaks down his business strategy.”  See the in-store video interview:  https://video.foxbusiness.com/v/2521284995001/reinventing-the-grocery-store-experience/?playlist_id=2219436024001&Intcmp=conferenceroom

 

“Foreign retail majors ignore India invite for investment” at Business Standard.  “American chains such as the The Kroger Company, Costco Wholesale, Walgreens and The Home Depot did not come, though they were reported to be part of the invitee list. Two German supermarket chains, Schwarz and Aldi, were asked to come but preferred to stay away.  When asked, Walgreens’ spokesperson Vivika Panagiotakakos said, “We don’t have any record of receiving an invitation to the event…It is believed Home Depot is not looking at India at this point.”  Read more:  https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/foreign-retail-majors-ignore-india-invite-for-investment-113070100002_1.html

 

“National Retail Federation Applauds Administration’s Decision to Delay Provisions of Obamacare”  ““We commend the Administration’s wise move to delay the employer reporting and penalty obligations under the Affordable Care Act.  “This one year delay will provide employers and businesses more time to update their health care coverage without threat of arbitrary punishment.”  Read more:  https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130702006326/en/NRF-Applauds-Administration%E2%80%99s-Decision-Delay-Provisions-Affordable?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

“Kenneth Salazar Added to Target Corporation’s Board of Directors” at WSJ.  “Target Corporation announced today that Kenneth Salazar, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior and U.S. Senator from Colorado, has been added to its Board of Directors, effective immediately.”  Read more:  https://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130702-908849.html

 

Thanks for reading…Enjoy July 4th weekend…We’ll return July 8th.

 

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