"Costco's Annual Meeting Highlights; 112 Million Hotdogs & 69 Million Rotisserie Chickens" by Angel Gonzalez at Seattle Times.  "Last year Costco sold 112 million hot dog and soda combos; 69 million rotisserie chickens and 114,000 carats of diamonds, including a $68,000 rock, Jelinek said...Jelinek said that in the three days before Thanksgiving, the company sold 17.4 million dinner rolls and 1.6 million pumpkin pies. “For some of you that may not be exciting, but that’s really exciting for me,” he said.  Not all businesses did well: Photo prints amounted to $800 million, a 10 percent drop. “Most people don’t [...]

  "Obama's Wish List at Costco:  Snow Shovel,  Dog Food, Tortilla Chips" by David Jackson at USA Today.  "The president went on -- and on -- about the store's variety.  "You know, you can buy a sofa, chocolate chip cookies and a snorkel set, all in the same (place)," he said.  "Now that was impressive," Obama said, adding on this very chilly day: "Although, I do want to ask who's snorkeling right now?"  Read more   "Target Hackers Used Stolen Vendor Credentials" at WSJ.  "We can confirm that the ongoing forensic investigation has indicated that the intruder stole a vendor's [...]

  "Walmart Begins Testing Online Grocery Shopping in Denver" by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch.  "Walmart To Go, the retailer’s on-demand shopping service offering home delivery of general merchandise, including in some cases, groceries, is expanding its test in the Denver market today to also include a local pick-up option. Denver area customers will now be able to order their groceries online, then pick up at a nearby store – without having to set foot inside the store."  Read more   "Obama Visits Costco Store Today" by David Jackston at USA Today.  "On Wednesday, Obama will speak at a Costco store [...]

  "Study:  Target Gets High Marks for Protecting Online Passwords (Costco, Walmart, Home Depot trail)" by Dan Goodin at ARS.  "Apple.com was the only site to receive a perfect score of 100, which was based on 24 criteria, such as whether the site accepts "123456" and other extremely weak passwords and whether it sends passwords in plain text by e-mail. Microsoft and academic supplier Chegg tied for second place with 65, while Newegg and Target came in third with 60."  See the Rankings   "Sam's Club Hacks 2,300" by Kim Souza at The City Wire.  "Bill Durling, a Sam’s Club [...]

  "Walmart's Ecom CEO:  "Wal-Mart was the Internet before the Internet came along"; Will Match Amazon's Delivery Capabilities Within Two Years" by Dennis Berman at WSJ.  "The plan under way will augment fulfillment from existing stores and distribution centers with online-only facilities, Mr. Ashe said.  "This is not a side project," Mr. Ashe said. "This is how we will be serving customers going forward."  Read more   "America's 50 Most Powerful People in Food for 2014 (Walmart's McMillon #3, Costco's Jelinek #13...)" at The Daily Meal.  "These men and women decide what and how you eat, whether you realize it or [...]

  "Besieged Target Lays Off 475 and Won't Fill 700 Jobs" by Adam Belz at Star-Tribune.  "A woman who was laid off from Target’s finance department said half of her 12-person team was fired immediately during a meeting Wednesday morning, while the other half will be laid off next month. The layoffs have been in the works for more than six months, the employee said, and she and her family had been preparing.  “They just sent out a memo saying we had a mandatory meeting at such-and-such time saying that you guys are being let go as of today,” said [...]

  "Target Shut Down Internal Sites Including Info Retriever" by Paul Ziobro at WSJ.  "One system is a human resources website for employees called eHR. The other is a database called Info Retriever that suppliers use to access sales data for their products in Target. Info Retriever came back online for external users last week, according to company emails sent to suppliers that were reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.  Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said limiting access was part of the company's response to the data breach."  Read more   "BuildDirect Raises $30 Mil, Ready to Take on Home Depot/Lowe's/Menards" [...]

  "Two Arrested at Mexico-U.S. Border in Connection with Target Hack; Canadian Customers Warned" by Christopher Sherman at AP via Star-Tribune.  "Account information stolen during the Target security breach is now being divided up and sold off regionally, a South Texas police chief said Monday after the arrest of two Mexican citizens who authorities say arrived at the border with 96 fraudulent credit cards...Target Corp. on Monday warned some Canadian customers that their personal data may have been compromised when hackers stole credit- and debit-card information from the discount chain’s U.S. operations last year."  Read more   "Kroger Kills Furniture [...]